Cross Country Safari . . . Maybe
A little off the subject, but I wanted to let readers know we will be traveling (I think) next week. I will have all my writing comforts with me, but I don't know how much time I'll have to write.
The family has been waffling back and forth for a couple of months now trying to decide whether we will make our annual trip (although it's been two years, not one, since our last trip) to visit relatives in Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. Just to make things a little more interesting, we are also planning a stopover in Paris, Texas, just because ... well, just because.
Our preference is to use the RV for such long trips. We bring along a few cats to keep us company and enjoy the rituals of a leisurely drive and nightly stops at each RV park. Our responsibilities to our foster cats as well as our own brood have put some constraints on how long we can be away this time around. We have two cats on medications. We are also concerned that our foster cats will backslide on the progress we've made socializing the skittish ones if we are away from them for too long.
We've settled on three weeks as the maximum time we can be away. "If" we go, we will have a lot of help from some great friends who'll be coming by the house regularly for cleaning, feeding, and playing. While we know they'll do a great job, we have a parent's worries for our four footed kids that will be left at home. To cut down the travel time and give us more time for visiting, we are taking the car this time. Two cats, Jonesie and Jackson, and our dog Sheila will be coming with us.
We are less than a week away from our planned start, and we have done most of what we need to do to be ready. Mostly. Maybe. Umm, well . . . We still haven't pushed the "GO" button, yet. Two days ago one of our younger cats came down with the sniffles. He seems to be getting better, though we are keeping a close eye on him.
Oh, I do have a little bit of news from the Writer's Conference. They are still compiling and editing the audio from the conference, but expect to have that done in about two weeks. By the time we get back from our trip I should have it.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Playing in the Snow Flakes
Playing in the Snow Flakes
With the conference now behind me, it was time to make use of what I've learned and get back to the business of writing. The main project, of course, is the novel. I also want to make some time to revise the short story "The Hallway" based on the excellent advice I received from my private read and critique with literary agent Jill Marr. More on that in a future post.
I am now on my third draft of "The Majik of Spark." That means I have two 80k+ word novels and a partial third stuffed into my files as well as probably triple that in notes, background, alternatives, and who knows what else. The linear writing process I use (also known as SOTP, or Seat of the Pants writing) is, for me, good for my creativity, but not very conducive to good organization. I just haven't done a good job of organizing the project. When I started coming across old content that looked suspiciously like something important that should have been in the book, I had to take a step back and reassess the plan/non-plan I was using. Having no plan is, by default, a sort of plan, and there is probably someone somewhere who could say it better than I. Aha! Let's let Winston Churchill give his version: "He who fails to plan is planning to fail." Change "plan/planning" to "prepare/preparing' and you have Ben Franklin's quote, "If you fail to prepare then you are preparing to fail."
What I'm leading up to is that I need to do some desperately needed planning and preparation before I jump back into pounding out chapters. In our last writer's group there were mixed views about how formal or informal this should be. There are specific guidelines (such as the Three Act process) that a great many writers, agents, and publishers insist on seeing when reading manuscripts. Then there were some who felt that guidelines restricted creativity and turned the art of writing into a cookie cutter process.
I can only comment on my own efforts, based on my obviously limited experience in writing a novel. I did not follow or even know about such guidelines when I wrote the first draft. In my opinion, the faults of the first draft included a failure to inject a sense of danger and conflict early enough in the book; ie, it lacked the first disaster called for in the three act process. There were lots of other mistakes, of course, but the lack of a tempo that is comfortable to readers was a major flaw. The second draft, while much better in a lot of ways, did not address that fundamental issue from the first draft.
My intent with the third draft is to pay homage to the Three Act process. Frankly, when I looked at the novel in that way, the three disasters fairly jumped out at me. They were in there even before I knew that was what they were. Two were pretty solid, but I could see that one was weak and would need reinforcement. Is that a cookie cutter approach, or an understanding of what gives a novel the ebb and flow it needs to have? That will be up to readers to decide.
I know that I am good at organizing things, when I decide to do it. I also know that I have trouble realizing when organizing should end and writing chapters should begin again. That will be my challenge going forward. I'm going to use a well known method of organizing called the Snowflake Method. I've spent the week since the conference crafting the first two steps, which I'll explain in a moment. I have made some alterations to the storyline based on input from the conference as well, so I hope the changes won't be too jarring to those who have patiently waded through all of these drafts. The first step is to write a one sentence summary of the whole book. The second step is to expand that to a paragraph that captures the story setup, the major disasters, and the ending. All of the emotion is essentially wrung out of this process in order to get to the basic framework from which all the good stuff can be built upon it.
It was hard not to try to fit in Song, or Conductors, or the Well of the worlds, or explain how magic/majik works in Spark but not in Chord, etc. The first thing this process did for me was help me to separate the book I was writing from the book that I will write down the road (ie, Chord). Too often I've confused those two, and this process cleared it up for me. So, below is the result of those first two steps. I'm interested to see if you can imagine how The Majik of Spark can be built, layer by layer, from this beginning.
Step 1 - Write a one sentence summary of the novel.
"A teenaged girl tormented with horrific visions joins a mysterious expedition to restore a shattered, life-giving well." - 17 words [goal, 15 words]
Say what? I can imagine that reaction. Let's take it by the numbers. [1] Philly is the girl, of course, and the story now centers on her as the main character. [2] The "why" that brings her into the expedition is now explained - she has horrific visions of the shattered well that drive her. [3] Those visions come from the wizard Reskin, who plays a more vital role than before. [4] The expedition itself now has a more concrete goal. [5] I've reversed the idea of breaking the barrier between the worlds to restoring the shattered connection, a more positive goal.
Step 2 - Write a paragraph describing the story setup, major disasters, and ending of the novel (roughly five sentences). NOTE: I am only going to include the first two sentences (of seven) since entire plotlines and the ending are spelled out. I'd like to save that for eventual readers to encounter when they read the book. For our writer's group, I'll make more details available so you can see where I am taking this third draft.
Here's the teaser:
"A teenage girl befriends a wizard who, on his deathbed, floods her mind with horrific visions surrounding an immense, shattered well beneath a sky raining blood. Convinced by a wakened goddess that her visions are real, the girl joins a mysterious expedition to find and restore the shattered well and stop the evil forces that covet it's power."
With the conference now behind me, it was time to make use of what I've learned and get back to the business of writing. The main project, of course, is the novel. I also want to make some time to revise the short story "The Hallway" based on the excellent advice I received from my private read and critique with literary agent Jill Marr. More on that in a future post.
I am now on my third draft of "The Majik of Spark." That means I have two 80k+ word novels and a partial third stuffed into my files as well as probably triple that in notes, background, alternatives, and who knows what else. The linear writing process I use (also known as SOTP, or Seat of the Pants writing) is, for me, good for my creativity, but not very conducive to good organization. I just haven't done a good job of organizing the project. When I started coming across old content that looked suspiciously like something important that should have been in the book, I had to take a step back and reassess the plan/non-plan I was using. Having no plan is, by default, a sort of plan, and there is probably someone somewhere who could say it better than I. Aha! Let's let Winston Churchill give his version: "He who fails to plan is planning to fail." Change "plan/planning" to "prepare/preparing' and you have Ben Franklin's quote, "If you fail to prepare then you are preparing to fail."
What I'm leading up to is that I need to do some desperately needed planning and preparation before I jump back into pounding out chapters. In our last writer's group there were mixed views about how formal or informal this should be. There are specific guidelines (such as the Three Act process) that a great many writers, agents, and publishers insist on seeing when reading manuscripts. Then there were some who felt that guidelines restricted creativity and turned the art of writing into a cookie cutter process.
I can only comment on my own efforts, based on my obviously limited experience in writing a novel. I did not follow or even know about such guidelines when I wrote the first draft. In my opinion, the faults of the first draft included a failure to inject a sense of danger and conflict early enough in the book; ie, it lacked the first disaster called for in the three act process. There were lots of other mistakes, of course, but the lack of a tempo that is comfortable to readers was a major flaw. The second draft, while much better in a lot of ways, did not address that fundamental issue from the first draft.
My intent with the third draft is to pay homage to the Three Act process. Frankly, when I looked at the novel in that way, the three disasters fairly jumped out at me. They were in there even before I knew that was what they were. Two were pretty solid, but I could see that one was weak and would need reinforcement. Is that a cookie cutter approach, or an understanding of what gives a novel the ebb and flow it needs to have? That will be up to readers to decide.
I know that I am good at organizing things, when I decide to do it. I also know that I have trouble realizing when organizing should end and writing chapters should begin again. That will be my challenge going forward. I'm going to use a well known method of organizing called the Snowflake Method. I've spent the week since the conference crafting the first two steps, which I'll explain in a moment. I have made some alterations to the storyline based on input from the conference as well, so I hope the changes won't be too jarring to those who have patiently waded through all of these drafts. The first step is to write a one sentence summary of the whole book. The second step is to expand that to a paragraph that captures the story setup, the major disasters, and the ending. All of the emotion is essentially wrung out of this process in order to get to the basic framework from which all the good stuff can be built upon it.
It was hard not to try to fit in Song, or Conductors, or the Well of the worlds, or explain how magic/majik works in Spark but not in Chord, etc. The first thing this process did for me was help me to separate the book I was writing from the book that I will write down the road (ie, Chord). Too often I've confused those two, and this process cleared it up for me. So, below is the result of those first two steps. I'm interested to see if you can imagine how The Majik of Spark can be built, layer by layer, from this beginning.
Step 1 - Write a one sentence summary of the novel.
"A teenaged girl tormented with horrific visions joins a mysterious expedition to restore a shattered, life-giving well." - 17 words [goal, 15 words]
Say what? I can imagine that reaction. Let's take it by the numbers. [1] Philly is the girl, of course, and the story now centers on her as the main character. [2] The "why" that brings her into the expedition is now explained - she has horrific visions of the shattered well that drive her. [3] Those visions come from the wizard Reskin, who plays a more vital role than before. [4] The expedition itself now has a more concrete goal. [5] I've reversed the idea of breaking the barrier between the worlds to restoring the shattered connection, a more positive goal.
Step 2 - Write a paragraph describing the story setup, major disasters, and ending of the novel (roughly five sentences). NOTE: I am only going to include the first two sentences (of seven) since entire plotlines and the ending are spelled out. I'd like to save that for eventual readers to encounter when they read the book. For our writer's group, I'll make more details available so you can see where I am taking this third draft.
Here's the teaser:
"A teenage girl befriends a wizard who, on his deathbed, floods her mind with horrific visions surrounding an immense, shattered well beneath a sky raining blood. Convinced by a wakened goddess that her visions are real, the girl joins a mysterious expedition to find and restore the shattered well and stop the evil forces that covet it's power."
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Superb 2013 La Jolla Writer's Conference
Superb 2013 La Jolla Writer's Conference
I've been to many conferences in my career, but the 2013 La Jolla Writer's Conference was my first as a writer. The conference was packed with three very full days of lectures and workshops while still finding a way for authors to meet and share with each other and with the knowledgeable faculty staff. Huge kudos to the organizers, led by Mr. Jared Kuritz.
The conference certainly had it's "Wow!" evenings listening and talking with respected, best-selling authors Joseph Wambaugh, Christopher Reich and Dale Brown, among others. The focus, however, was a roll-up-your-sleeves immersion in the craft of writing. The schedule was jam-packed and carried well into the evenings. Authors, agents, and publishers from every genre generously volunteered their time and expertise. From mainstream to the far edges of the eclectic, from the basics of plot and character to the almost surreal discussion on how fear drives both characters and authors, there were knowledgeable teachers to offer advice and debate on every question.
As I write this on Sunday night, my head is still bursting with all this new and useful ammunition to attack current (and future) projects with. It was truly a powerful experience that was both exhilarating and daunting. The daunting part was the realization of just how much more there is to writing than just the writing, and just how much work is required to create a truly worthy manuscript. I think it was Dale Brown (things start to blur quickly) who mentioned how lucky he was to get his first novel published in record time - three years from first draft to release. Similar revelations abounded throughout the weekend and gave me a much different perspective toward what I thought was good writing. That's a challenge that I intend to take on.
I have some favorite moments from the conference. Christopher Reich ran his class on hooking the reader from page one as if we were in the middle of one of his books, grilling us about our plot and characters and demanding the very best of us. It was inspiring and riveting, even when I was the one being grilled.
Dale Brown took a softer approach that was no less fascinating. As a group we talked about our writing habits and quirks and how they helped or, sometimes, hindered our progress. It quickly became apparent that writers could write just about anywhere, and that there were no cookie cutter descriptions about just what a writer was. The only thing we truly have in common is our love and obsession with putting words on paper.
I had a lively talk with literary agent Jill Marr, who worked with me on the manuscript I'd submitted for the private read and critique session. I must admit to bungling my simple assignment on the first page of the manuscript when Jill pointed out that my "horror" story was actually closer to science fiction. Jill Marr's website very clearly stated that she worked with a lot of genres, but that science fiction wasn't one of them. Jill read it anyway. Not only did she give me a number of tips to improve on the story and set it in the proper horror genre that I intended, she also offered potential sources that might be interested in the revised story. I went into the interview very nervous and unsure what to expect. I left with more confidence and armed with good advice.
I also must admit to dogging Eldon Thompson, who is a published fantasy writer participating and teaching at the conference. I liked his selection of topics, but I also wanted to get a perspective from a successful, published writer who is still somewhat new to the game. I cornered him more than once to talk about writing in general and about the ups and downs of the business end of it and truly enjoyed the conversations.
There are still a ton of things to cover, so expect more to come about the 2013 La Jolla Writer's Conference.
I've been to many conferences in my career, but the 2013 La Jolla Writer's Conference was my first as a writer. The conference was packed with three very full days of lectures and workshops while still finding a way for authors to meet and share with each other and with the knowledgeable faculty staff. Huge kudos to the organizers, led by Mr. Jared Kuritz.
The conference certainly had it's "Wow!" evenings listening and talking with respected, best-selling authors Joseph Wambaugh, Christopher Reich and Dale Brown, among others. The focus, however, was a roll-up-your-sleeves immersion in the craft of writing. The schedule was jam-packed and carried well into the evenings. Authors, agents, and publishers from every genre generously volunteered their time and expertise. From mainstream to the far edges of the eclectic, from the basics of plot and character to the almost surreal discussion on how fear drives both characters and authors, there were knowledgeable teachers to offer advice and debate on every question.
As I write this on Sunday night, my head is still bursting with all this new and useful ammunition to attack current (and future) projects with. It was truly a powerful experience that was both exhilarating and daunting. The daunting part was the realization of just how much more there is to writing than just the writing, and just how much work is required to create a truly worthy manuscript. I think it was Dale Brown (things start to blur quickly) who mentioned how lucky he was to get his first novel published in record time - three years from first draft to release. Similar revelations abounded throughout the weekend and gave me a much different perspective toward what I thought was good writing. That's a challenge that I intend to take on.
I have some favorite moments from the conference. Christopher Reich ran his class on hooking the reader from page one as if we were in the middle of one of his books, grilling us about our plot and characters and demanding the very best of us. It was inspiring and riveting, even when I was the one being grilled.
Dale Brown took a softer approach that was no less fascinating. As a group we talked about our writing habits and quirks and how they helped or, sometimes, hindered our progress. It quickly became apparent that writers could write just about anywhere, and that there were no cookie cutter descriptions about just what a writer was. The only thing we truly have in common is our love and obsession with putting words on paper.
I had a lively talk with literary agent Jill Marr, who worked with me on the manuscript I'd submitted for the private read and critique session. I must admit to bungling my simple assignment on the first page of the manuscript when Jill pointed out that my "horror" story was actually closer to science fiction. Jill Marr's website very clearly stated that she worked with a lot of genres, but that science fiction wasn't one of them. Jill read it anyway. Not only did she give me a number of tips to improve on the story and set it in the proper horror genre that I intended, she also offered potential sources that might be interested in the revised story. I went into the interview very nervous and unsure what to expect. I left with more confidence and armed with good advice.
I also must admit to dogging Eldon Thompson, who is a published fantasy writer participating and teaching at the conference. I liked his selection of topics, but I also wanted to get a perspective from a successful, published writer who is still somewhat new to the game. I cornered him more than once to talk about writing in general and about the ups and downs of the business end of it and truly enjoyed the conversations.
There are still a ton of things to cover, so expect more to come about the 2013 La Jolla Writer's Conference.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Second Helping of the Short Story Contest
Second Helping of the Short Story Contest
I received a second package from San Diego Writers, Ink last week and spent time over the weekend reading the fourteen new stories. In general, this second batch on the whole was better than the first set of stories I'd reviewed. However, none of these stories outshone the two stories from the first batch that had warranted a second look. Whether by design or the luck of the draw, most of the new stories were what I would call "family drama" stories ranging from "slice of life vignettes" to dark dramas of broken families, strife, and death.
Trying hard to give the second readers something to work with, I culled two stories out of the pack as the best of the set of stories I had to work with. One was the "slice of life" vignette, which I enjoyed reading. There was nothing specifically wrong with the story, other than there were already too many stories just like it. It just didn't stand out compared to innumerable similar stories already written and published. The second story I took another look at hooked me at the start and maintained my interest right until the end - and then the author took the ending right off a cliff, totally destroying it. The surprise ending is a common tool that can be very effective. For it to work, though, the writer has to embed clues that support the surprise at the end. Good surprise endings jolt the writer into a "Wow, I wasn't expecting that! But now I can see how that came about." The bad surprise ending is one where the reader goes "What!? That's stupid. You just ruined the whole story."
On the home front I haven't been able to write myself out of the mess I made of the first third of "The Majik of Spark." I enjoy the editing process even more than I enjoy writing, so I thought that editing my own work, even such a large chunk, would be quick and fun. I also thought that, as often happens with my shorter stories, the editing process would reveal even better ideas. I was wrong. Sometimes I wish I had started the trilogy with "The Song of Chord," for which I have a lot of background and which I actually began writing before "Spark." That's all water under the bridge now. I like the ideas I have to turn the story down a darker path, and I like the snippets I've already written to pave that path. I just haven't been able to see the whole picture, yet, which was the problem that ultimately sank my first effort.
I still have hope that I will be able to corral at least the first third of the novel into something good enough to pitch to publishers/agents at the conference. If it isn't solid, though, I won't risk a rejection simply because I wasn't ready. I have less than three weeks to be ready.
Note: There are new posts available in the Wild Family Adventures Blog
I received a second package from San Diego Writers, Ink last week and spent time over the weekend reading the fourteen new stories. In general, this second batch on the whole was better than the first set of stories I'd reviewed. However, none of these stories outshone the two stories from the first batch that had warranted a second look. Whether by design or the luck of the draw, most of the new stories were what I would call "family drama" stories ranging from "slice of life vignettes" to dark dramas of broken families, strife, and death.
Trying hard to give the second readers something to work with, I culled two stories out of the pack as the best of the set of stories I had to work with. One was the "slice of life" vignette, which I enjoyed reading. There was nothing specifically wrong with the story, other than there were already too many stories just like it. It just didn't stand out compared to innumerable similar stories already written and published. The second story I took another look at hooked me at the start and maintained my interest right until the end - and then the author took the ending right off a cliff, totally destroying it. The surprise ending is a common tool that can be very effective. For it to work, though, the writer has to embed clues that support the surprise at the end. Good surprise endings jolt the writer into a "Wow, I wasn't expecting that! But now I can see how that came about." The bad surprise ending is one where the reader goes "What!? That's stupid. You just ruined the whole story."
On the home front I haven't been able to write myself out of the mess I made of the first third of "The Majik of Spark." I enjoy the editing process even more than I enjoy writing, so I thought that editing my own work, even such a large chunk, would be quick and fun. I also thought that, as often happens with my shorter stories, the editing process would reveal even better ideas. I was wrong. Sometimes I wish I had started the trilogy with "The Song of Chord," for which I have a lot of background and which I actually began writing before "Spark." That's all water under the bridge now. I like the ideas I have to turn the story down a darker path, and I like the snippets I've already written to pave that path. I just haven't been able to see the whole picture, yet, which was the problem that ultimately sank my first effort.
I still have hope that I will be able to corral at least the first third of the novel into something good enough to pitch to publishers/agents at the conference. If it isn't solid, though, I won't risk a rejection simply because I wasn't ready. I have less than three weeks to be ready.
Note: There are new posts available in the Wild Family Adventures Blog
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Short Story Contest Reading
Short Story Contest Reading
I recently volunteered to be a reader for a short story contest run by the San Diego Writers Organization (SDW). This is my first time being a reader, and I was interested in learning more about how such contests are run. SDW is one of the largest writer's organizations in San Diego, and their contest drew a huge number of responses. There were several categories, but I chose to read for the prose category of short stories (max 3,000 words). There were no other restrictions. The winners of the competition would get their work published in an anthology.
I received the first of two sets of manuscripts for review late last week. There were fourteen manuscripts. I finished reading them all on Monday, 23 September. The genres ranged from straight fiction to fairytale fantasy. I was expecting at least a few thrillers, CSI type stories, mysteries, and maybe some vampire and undead entries. To my surprise, none of those genres appeared in any of these fourteen stories.
I enjoyed reading the stories, whether good or not so good. Readers were not asked to give full critiques. My role as a "first reader" was to provide short feedback so that the second readers could focus on the better entries. Condensed down, I gave my opinion on whether a story was worth consideration for the anthology, and why or why not.
Out of the fourteen stories I reviewed, none of them jumped out and grabbed me, but there were two that warranted a second look. The other twelve stories, no matter the genre or subject matter, had very common failings. They were, sadly, boring to read. Very little happens, conflict is lacking, and many of the stories simply end without any resolution.
Since the contest is ongoing I won't specifically discuss the two stories that caught my eye. I liked one of them because the writer really had something to say, and the story is one of those where you root for the main characters, but are afraid that the end is not going to turn out well for them. The other one I liked went into fairyland with tongue firmly in cheek in a very entertaining way. It was very short, too, which in filling an anthology could help it land a spot.
I got confirmation that the Read and Critique package I'd sent had been received. The day and time of the meeting is still TBD. Everything is on track for the conference.
I recently volunteered to be a reader for a short story contest run by the San Diego Writers Organization (SDW). This is my first time being a reader, and I was interested in learning more about how such contests are run. SDW is one of the largest writer's organizations in San Diego, and their contest drew a huge number of responses. There were several categories, but I chose to read for the prose category of short stories (max 3,000 words). There were no other restrictions. The winners of the competition would get their work published in an anthology.
I received the first of two sets of manuscripts for review late last week. There were fourteen manuscripts. I finished reading them all on Monday, 23 September. The genres ranged from straight fiction to fairytale fantasy. I was expecting at least a few thrillers, CSI type stories, mysteries, and maybe some vampire and undead entries. To my surprise, none of those genres appeared in any of these fourteen stories.
I enjoyed reading the stories, whether good or not so good. Readers were not asked to give full critiques. My role as a "first reader" was to provide short feedback so that the second readers could focus on the better entries. Condensed down, I gave my opinion on whether a story was worth consideration for the anthology, and why or why not.
Out of the fourteen stories I reviewed, none of them jumped out and grabbed me, but there were two that warranted a second look. The other twelve stories, no matter the genre or subject matter, had very common failings. They were, sadly, boring to read. Very little happens, conflict is lacking, and many of the stories simply end without any resolution.
Since the contest is ongoing I won't specifically discuss the two stories that caught my eye. I liked one of them because the writer really had something to say, and the story is one of those where you root for the main characters, but are afraid that the end is not going to turn out well for them. The other one I liked went into fairyland with tongue firmly in cheek in a very entertaining way. It was very short, too, which in filling an anthology could help it land a spot.
I got confirmation that the Read and Critique package I'd sent had been received. The day and time of the meeting is still TBD. Everything is on track for the conference.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
The La Jolla Writer's Conference Package
The La Jolla Writer's Conference Package
I received my conference package by email on 14 September for the 13th annual La Jolla Writer's Conference. The conference is at the Paradise Point Resort. The resort is actually in San Diego on Mission Bay near Seaworld, not La Jolla. That was good news as that will cut my driving time by a lot.
Three New York Times best selling authors lead the billing: Christopher Reich, Lisa Jackson, and Dale Brown. I checked on my Private Read & Critique (PR&C) submission. My request to see Jill Marr, a publisher of both fiction and non-fiction, was approved, but my submission package hasn't reached her yet. I had to make a decision on whether to provide a package for the novel, "The Majik of Spark." It really wasn't ready, though, with the changes I'm still making, so I did not submit it. Instead, I submitted a recently completed short story.
In addition to the formal PR&C, I also plan to get some time with adventure fantasy author Eldon Thompson to talk about "Majik." I'm signing up for a couple of his classes. He has a published trilogy that I'm just getting started on reading. I will also have a PR&C package about "Majik" should he, or anyone else, be interested.
The "official" welcome package is not yet official. They recommend having a hard copy (or download to your device of preference) for the conference, but don't recommend printing it until just before the conference since there will likely still be changes between now and opening. Classes come in two varieties - lectures, which run about fifty minutes, and workshops, which are scheduled for 110 minutes. For almost all of the lectures and workshops there is no pre-registration requirement - just pick what you want and attend. There are three classes that require pre-registration in person on the morning the conference. Those classes go deeper into their subject than other classes. The three are: The 7-Minute Pitch, "American Idol" Pitch Session, and an Advanced Read and Critique specifically for thriller, mystery, and suspense writers.
I have to admit that I don't have a good social media strategy, nor do I use that medium very well. This conference is a nice test for me, as I will try to engage in both Facebook and Twitter during the conference. My rather stodgy website is getting an upgrade, too, with a new bio and some other changes if I can unravel a few issues with Wordpress, the website software I'm trying out.
More to follow as I get closer to the conference opening.
There are new posts available in the Wild Family Adventures Blog:
Wild Family Adventures
I received my conference package by email on 14 September for the 13th annual La Jolla Writer's Conference. The conference is at the Paradise Point Resort. The resort is actually in San Diego on Mission Bay near Seaworld, not La Jolla. That was good news as that will cut my driving time by a lot.
Three New York Times best selling authors lead the billing: Christopher Reich, Lisa Jackson, and Dale Brown. I checked on my Private Read & Critique (PR&C) submission. My request to see Jill Marr, a publisher of both fiction and non-fiction, was approved, but my submission package hasn't reached her yet. I had to make a decision on whether to provide a package for the novel, "The Majik of Spark." It really wasn't ready, though, with the changes I'm still making, so I did not submit it. Instead, I submitted a recently completed short story.
In addition to the formal PR&C, I also plan to get some time with adventure fantasy author Eldon Thompson to talk about "Majik." I'm signing up for a couple of his classes. He has a published trilogy that I'm just getting started on reading. I will also have a PR&C package about "Majik" should he, or anyone else, be interested.
The "official" welcome package is not yet official. They recommend having a hard copy (or download to your device of preference) for the conference, but don't recommend printing it until just before the conference since there will likely still be changes between now and opening. Classes come in two varieties - lectures, which run about fifty minutes, and workshops, which are scheduled for 110 minutes. For almost all of the lectures and workshops there is no pre-registration requirement - just pick what you want and attend. There are three classes that require pre-registration in person on the morning the conference. Those classes go deeper into their subject than other classes. The three are: The 7-Minute Pitch, "American Idol" Pitch Session, and an Advanced Read and Critique specifically for thriller, mystery, and suspense writers.
I have to admit that I don't have a good social media strategy, nor do I use that medium very well. This conference is a nice test for me, as I will try to engage in both Facebook and Twitter during the conference. My rather stodgy website is getting an upgrade, too, with a new bio and some other changes if I can unravel a few issues with Wordpress, the website software I'm trying out.
More to follow as I get closer to the conference opening.
There are new posts available in the Wild Family Adventures Blog:
Wild Family Adventures
Thursday, September 12, 2013
A Third, And Final? Draft
A Third, And Final? Draft
As I promised in my prior post, the below list describes the main issues that need to be resolved in this third draft of "The Majik of Spark" based on the feedback I received from our writer's group. I've already begun work on it, but I'll have to set a feverish pace to have it ready for the conference. The changes will take significant work, but the majority of the story is still intact. There is no need for a complete rewrite, for example. Here are the areas I am working on:
The Main Character: The story opens with the character Jaundice. Naming conventions aside, no one liked the name or it's connotation. After a little resistance on my part, I had to agree. The name will be changed. More significantly, though, is that while Jaundice is an important character, she's not the main character. As the story evolved it became more and more apparent that the real main character is Philly. Philly is not introduced to the reader until deeper into the story, so I am going to alter and reorder the beginning chapters to put Philly front and center.
The Early Chapters: The group concurred with my concern over the lack of plot progression in the early chapters. The consensus was that there was too much information and not enough action. That I can definitely take care of. There was also a lack of focus on the purpose and goals of the expedition that the story centered on. This is my biggest challenge. Frankly, I changed those goals mid-stream during the second draft and obviously did not get it right. I know what I want, I just have to figure out how to get there.
Trilogy vs Satisfying Conclusion: The "Majik of Spark" is the first book of a proposed trilogy. I wanted to end the book with a cliff hanger to encourage readers to want to read the next one. Simply stated, I overdid it. When readers actually get angry at the ending of the story, the writer had better pay attention. In one sense I was happy that I could strike such a nerve, but I knew I had better come up with an ending that left the reader in a better frame of mind. What prompted that anger? Too many things were left hanging with no resolution. Cliff hangers are fine, but the book must have some sense of closure. It must be able to stand on it's own, with it's own, satisfying ending, even though it's the first part of a trilogy.
Writing a novel is a messy business. Getting under the hood like this and sharing where I went wrong is a little unnerving. My hope is that by sharing I might save someone out there from making some of these same mistakes. I certainly learned one important lesson - Writer's group help and writing buddies are a must and a treasure!
What do you think?
As I promised in my prior post, the below list describes the main issues that need to be resolved in this third draft of "The Majik of Spark" based on the feedback I received from our writer's group. I've already begun work on it, but I'll have to set a feverish pace to have it ready for the conference. The changes will take significant work, but the majority of the story is still intact. There is no need for a complete rewrite, for example. Here are the areas I am working on:
The Main Character: The story opens with the character Jaundice. Naming conventions aside, no one liked the name or it's connotation. After a little resistance on my part, I had to agree. The name will be changed. More significantly, though, is that while Jaundice is an important character, she's not the main character. As the story evolved it became more and more apparent that the real main character is Philly. Philly is not introduced to the reader until deeper into the story, so I am going to alter and reorder the beginning chapters to put Philly front and center.
The Early Chapters: The group concurred with my concern over the lack of plot progression in the early chapters. The consensus was that there was too much information and not enough action. That I can definitely take care of. There was also a lack of focus on the purpose and goals of the expedition that the story centered on. This is my biggest challenge. Frankly, I changed those goals mid-stream during the second draft and obviously did not get it right. I know what I want, I just have to figure out how to get there.
Trilogy vs Satisfying Conclusion: The "Majik of Spark" is the first book of a proposed trilogy. I wanted to end the book with a cliff hanger to encourage readers to want to read the next one. Simply stated, I overdid it. When readers actually get angry at the ending of the story, the writer had better pay attention. In one sense I was happy that I could strike such a nerve, but I knew I had better come up with an ending that left the reader in a better frame of mind. What prompted that anger? Too many things were left hanging with no resolution. Cliff hangers are fine, but the book must have some sense of closure. It must be able to stand on it's own, with it's own, satisfying ending, even though it's the first part of a trilogy.
Writing a novel is a messy business. Getting under the hood like this and sharing where I went wrong is a little unnerving. My hope is that by sharing I might save someone out there from making some of these same mistakes. I certainly learned one important lesson - Writer's group help and writing buddies are a must and a treasure!
What do you think?
Friday, September 6, 2013
Writing is Lot Easier than Pitching!
Writing is Lot Easier than Pitching!
Yes, we were at Petco Park to watch the Padres beat the Giants, 3-2, this week, which got us out of last place (at least for a day). That's not what I mean about "pitching," however. Having written a novel seems to be the easiest part of the process of publishing a book. The amount of information that has to be prepared and available for presentation when pitching a manuscript to an agent/publisher is daunting! I have the One Sentence Storyline completed. I have the Five Sentence Storyline done. The Chapter Synopsis is done. I am working on a Two Page Synopsis, a Scene Synopsis, and a One page Synopsis. This last one pager is for the La Jolla conference specifically, an extra task. Once the above is done I'll be working on my Query Letter.
The Chapter Synopsis has been an eye opener. Frankly, it's been a little discouraging. There is a heavy emphasis on maintaining plot continuity. Each scene, each chapter, has to advance the story. In the earlier chapters, the troupe of adventurers certainly progress along the journey they are on toward their final goal. But, I'm less certain that the plot of the story is advancing as it should. There is a lot of explanation, but I'm worried that there isn't enough action and conflict.
I have tentatively selected the twelve page excerpt of my manuscript required for the conference. I fitted together parts of Chapter Fifteen and Eighteen. These two chapters focus on the conflict between the fiend, Kee, and Philly, as well as involving the rest of Dice's Troupe. I hope that the excerpt will show my writing style and relevant examples of how Majik and Song make up the twin worlds.
Our writer's group met on 5 September. I got some truly superb critiques on "The Majik of Spark" that sent me back to the manuscript to work on the suggestions and issues that were brought up. There are three major changes that I need to work out.
I'll get to what those are and what I am doing about it in a future post. Getting that done before the conference is going to be a challenge.
There is a new post on the Wild Family Adventures Blog:
http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2013/09/rules-of-pve-pet-battle-engagement.html
Yes, we were at Petco Park to watch the Padres beat the Giants, 3-2, this week, which got us out of last place (at least for a day). That's not what I mean about "pitching," however. Having written a novel seems to be the easiest part of the process of publishing a book. The amount of information that has to be prepared and available for presentation when pitching a manuscript to an agent/publisher is daunting! I have the One Sentence Storyline completed. I have the Five Sentence Storyline done. The Chapter Synopsis is done. I am working on a Two Page Synopsis, a Scene Synopsis, and a One page Synopsis. This last one pager is for the La Jolla conference specifically, an extra task. Once the above is done I'll be working on my Query Letter.
The Chapter Synopsis has been an eye opener. Frankly, it's been a little discouraging. There is a heavy emphasis on maintaining plot continuity. Each scene, each chapter, has to advance the story. In the earlier chapters, the troupe of adventurers certainly progress along the journey they are on toward their final goal. But, I'm less certain that the plot of the story is advancing as it should. There is a lot of explanation, but I'm worried that there isn't enough action and conflict.
I have tentatively selected the twelve page excerpt of my manuscript required for the conference. I fitted together parts of Chapter Fifteen and Eighteen. These two chapters focus on the conflict between the fiend, Kee, and Philly, as well as involving the rest of Dice's Troupe. I hope that the excerpt will show my writing style and relevant examples of how Majik and Song make up the twin worlds.
Our writer's group met on 5 September. I got some truly superb critiques on "The Majik of Spark" that sent me back to the manuscript to work on the suggestions and issues that were brought up. There are three major changes that I need to work out.
I'll get to what those are and what I am doing about it in a future post. Getting that done before the conference is going to be a challenge.
There is a new post on the Wild Family Adventures Blog:
http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2013/09/rules-of-pve-pet-battle-engagement.html
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Preparing for the Writer's Conference
Preparing for the Writer's Conference
I have definitely decided to go to the La Jolla Writer's Conference scheduled for November 1-3, 2013. Taking advantage of the discounts available, the cost for the full conference is $310, which includes meals and all the events. I live close enough that I will be able to drive to and from the conference, so I can avoid the hotel costs.
I am also going to sign up for at least one session of private "Read and Critique" sessions. I've been reviewing each of the listed agents/publishers/publicists/faculty to determine who to ask for. I have tentatively picked one already, but I haven't finished going through the list, yet. If I find a second person that I really like I might do two sessions. Each session costs $55 for a twenty minute interview. I have to prepare and mail (hardcopy) a one page synopsis and up to twelve pages of my manuscript. The package has to be in the hands of the conference organizers by September 25th, which - GAH! - means I only have about two weeks to get it in the mail.
I'm looking forward to the feedback from my writer's group and suggestions on which part of the manuscript I should take the twelve pages from. The next meeting of the group is on September 5th.
Also note that there is a new post on the Wild Family Adventures Blog:
Making Arrangements
I have definitely decided to go to the La Jolla Writer's Conference scheduled for November 1-3, 2013. Taking advantage of the discounts available, the cost for the full conference is $310, which includes meals and all the events. I live close enough that I will be able to drive to and from the conference, so I can avoid the hotel costs.
I am also going to sign up for at least one session of private "Read and Critique" sessions. I've been reviewing each of the listed agents/publishers/publicists/faculty to determine who to ask for. I have tentatively picked one already, but I haven't finished going through the list, yet. If I find a second person that I really like I might do two sessions. Each session costs $55 for a twenty minute interview. I have to prepare and mail (hardcopy) a one page synopsis and up to twelve pages of my manuscript. The package has to be in the hands of the conference organizers by September 25th, which - GAH! - means I only have about two weeks to get it in the mail.
I'm looking forward to the feedback from my writer's group and suggestions on which part of the manuscript I should take the twelve pages from. The next meeting of the group is on September 5th.
Also note that there is a new post on the Wild Family Adventures Blog:
Making Arrangements
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Like I Never Left
Just a quick note for those who follow my World of Warcraft blog, called Wild Family Adventures. I had planned to retire that blog, but changed my mind. This blog, the JadedWalker, is my primary blog site. Whenever there is a new post on the Warcraft blog, however, I'll add a link here. That way you don't have to check both.
There is a new post today:
Like I Never Left
There is a new post today:
Like I Never Left
Saturday, August 24, 2013
A Fatalistic view of the 2014 San Diego Padres
A Fatalistic view of the 2014 San Diego Padres
Writing about writing can get a little boring, so I'm going to mix things up a bit and talk about another obsession of mine, and that's baseball. Since I live in the San Diego area, I have grown to love the usually hapless San Diego Padres team. We've lived here since 1999, but it was only in 2012 that we made the decision to become season ticket holders.
After two years as full season ticket holders, we have had to reconsider the number of baseball games we could physically get to as we look toward the 2014 season. We love to go to the games and we have the perfect seats for us. For our third year as season ticket holders, however, we decided to sign up for one of the half-season packages. Instead of 81 home games, we get 41 home games. We can keep the seats we have. One drawback we could have is that we may have to sit somewhere other than our own seats for the opening day game (since a full season ticket holder might get that seat for opening day). We also only get to go to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday games, and while that shouldn't be a problem, it's possible that due to scheduling we could miss a series now and then. All in all, though, we should still get to see at least as many games as we have in the past, for about half the price, although we will have fewer tickets to give to friends.
As for the team itself, the Padres have imploded this season after a promising start. With a record of 57-70, 13 games below .500, the team has a worse record this season than last season (10 games below .500). Just to match last season, the Padres would have to go 19-16 the rest of the way. That doesn't look remotely possible. I think the current team goal is to stay out of last place. The Giants are in last place right now, but only a half game behind us at 56-70.
Looking to next year, the team is mostly made up of young players who the team hopes will improve. Most of our players will be back, so next year's lineup will look much like this years. Given the Padres history, I am taking a fatalistic approach - I love the Padres, but I don't really expect them to win. From that standpoint, here are my predictions for the Padres 2014 lineup (I'll handicap the pitchers later).
Batting 1st: Everth Cabrera (SS) is serving a 50 game suspension for using PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). He was leading the league is stolen bases and was having the best season of his career until his suspension. In 2014, will he be like 2013, or will he revert to his pre-PED output? Prediction: Cabrera will fall from grace, dropping his OBP from .355 to under .330 and slipping back to being a decent but not exceptional shortstop. He'll still steal bases, but he'll struggle to get on base enough win any more stolen base titles.
Batting 2nd: Chase Headley (3B) had a phenomenal year in 2012, hitting 31 homeruns and leading the National league with 115 RBIs. A major disappointment in 2013, he's hit only 8 HRs and driven in just 35. Prediction: He's better than the awful season he's having now, but I don't think he'll ever be the power hitter the team needs, having never hit more than 12 homers in a season before 2012. Chase has good speed and should recover his ability to draw walks, so he could be a decent #2 hitter. If he fails to get on base enough, he could fall as far as 6th or 7th in the lineup. 2013 was going to be the year he earned a big contract, but that has evaporated. He's also going to be 31 years old in 2014, on the cusp of ... well, we'll have to see.
Batting 3rd: Yonder Alonso (1B) wins this spot by default. He's a young 26, and has hit well in his first two years with the club. Alonso can hit for average (.290 recently), but managed only 9 and 6 homers in those years. Not good for a #3 hitter. It's the best the team has, though. Prediction: His batting average will drop as he tries to build up his power numbers, say in the .260-.270 range, but he'll still fall short of 15 HRs.
Batting 4th: Carlos Quentin (LF) is an excellent slugger with a long history if injuries. The Padres paid him a lot of money and we're stuck with him for at least a couple more years. For five straight years he hit more than 20 homers a season (with other teams), but then he joined the Padres in 2012 and his HR totals dropped to 16 and 13. Quentin is hurt and is probably out for the season after playing only 82 games. Prediction: The Padres will have to eat his contract (who would trade for him with his injury history?) even though he he'll be hurt more often than he can play.
Batting 5th: Jedd Gyorko (2B) is the likely #4 hitter when Quentin can't play, but is slated for the five spot in 2014. Gyorko's a rookie, in his first season in the majors, and he has impressed us all with his superb play at secondbase and his level of maturity. He is second on the team in HRs (16) and his .254 batting average should improve over time. Prediction: My favorite player, the 24 year old should have a bright future, although the Padres will find a way to lose him to some other team.
Batting 6th: Nick Hundley is a fine catcher with otherwise modest talents. He's hit a career high 10 homers this season so far, though he is destined to be the backup to 24 year old Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is out for season with injuries and is also a suspended PED user. He hit .297 in 2012 over 60 games, but only .216 in 28 games in 2013. Prediction: Grandal will be the starting catcher in 2014, assuming he's healthy, but his success in college and his rapid rise from the low minors in 2010 to the major leagues in just two years is suspect. Who knows if he has any true talent that isn't PED boosted.
The rest of the lineup is a hodgepodge that changes with every game. The contenders for the last two spots in the lineup are:
Will Venable (OF) is having a career year, if one considers a .263 batting average, 17 homers, and 14 steals to be a "career" year. Asked to bat in the #1 spot with Cabrera suspended, he is getting a lot more at bats than usual. Under normal circumstances the 30 year old is platooned against lefty pitchers. He will be pushed by rookie Jaff Decker (yes, that's spelled correctly) who is getting a good look, though the 23 year old is hitting only .174 in 11 games so far. Prediction: Back to platooning in 2014 for Venable, back to the minor leagues for Decker.
Chris Denorfia (OF) is a solid, competent player who gets his 100-120 games each season. He has a little pop in his bat, some speed on the bases, and steady play. He'll also be turning 33 in 2014.
Alexi Amarista (OF, SS) is a versatile player still young enough (24) to make a future impact, but is projected more as a utility player than a regular with his .243 career batting average and low stolen base totals despite good speed. Prediction: Amarista is young enough and cheap enough and versatile enough to hold on to, but see Logan Forsythe below.
Logan Forsythe (multiple positions) falls into the same Amarista/Venable camp, though he is already 26. Prediction: Either Forsythe or Amarista will be traded; they won't keep both utility players. Jesus Guzman and Kyle Blanks are others wannabes who have yet to show they can hold a spot on the team.
Then there is Cameron Maybin (OF) who has shown glimpses that he can be a fine centerfielder with all the physical skills of a potential superstar: power, speed, strong arm, etc. Staked to a large contract, he's already played in parts of seven seasons though he has yet to see his 27th birthday. The clock is ticking, though, as he fights through injury after injury (out for the season after just 14 games). He's never had a break out season, has never hit more than 9 HRs, and never batted over .264 (.243 career). Yet, he is apparently "still" the great hope of for the team. Prediction: Even when healthy, he doesn't seem to be able to harness all that physical talent. Maybin will always be a "what he could have been" player.
So, there's our 2014 San Diego Padres hitters.
PS - We also rooted for a local little league team in Eastlake who made it to the Little League World Series, and came just one game short of winning the national title.
Writing about writing can get a little boring, so I'm going to mix things up a bit and talk about another obsession of mine, and that's baseball. Since I live in the San Diego area, I have grown to love the usually hapless San Diego Padres team. We've lived here since 1999, but it was only in 2012 that we made the decision to become season ticket holders.
After two years as full season ticket holders, we have had to reconsider the number of baseball games we could physically get to as we look toward the 2014 season. We love to go to the games and we have the perfect seats for us. For our third year as season ticket holders, however, we decided to sign up for one of the half-season packages. Instead of 81 home games, we get 41 home games. We can keep the seats we have. One drawback we could have is that we may have to sit somewhere other than our own seats for the opening day game (since a full season ticket holder might get that seat for opening day). We also only get to go to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday games, and while that shouldn't be a problem, it's possible that due to scheduling we could miss a series now and then. All in all, though, we should still get to see at least as many games as we have in the past, for about half the price, although we will have fewer tickets to give to friends.
As for the team itself, the Padres have imploded this season after a promising start. With a record of 57-70, 13 games below .500, the team has a worse record this season than last season (10 games below .500). Just to match last season, the Padres would have to go 19-16 the rest of the way. That doesn't look remotely possible. I think the current team goal is to stay out of last place. The Giants are in last place right now, but only a half game behind us at 56-70.
Looking to next year, the team is mostly made up of young players who the team hopes will improve. Most of our players will be back, so next year's lineup will look much like this years. Given the Padres history, I am taking a fatalistic approach - I love the Padres, but I don't really expect them to win. From that standpoint, here are my predictions for the Padres 2014 lineup (I'll handicap the pitchers later).
Batting 1st: Everth Cabrera (SS) is serving a 50 game suspension for using PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). He was leading the league is stolen bases and was having the best season of his career until his suspension. In 2014, will he be like 2013, or will he revert to his pre-PED output? Prediction: Cabrera will fall from grace, dropping his OBP from .355 to under .330 and slipping back to being a decent but not exceptional shortstop. He'll still steal bases, but he'll struggle to get on base enough win any more stolen base titles.
Batting 2nd: Chase Headley (3B) had a phenomenal year in 2012, hitting 31 homeruns and leading the National league with 115 RBIs. A major disappointment in 2013, he's hit only 8 HRs and driven in just 35. Prediction: He's better than the awful season he's having now, but I don't think he'll ever be the power hitter the team needs, having never hit more than 12 homers in a season before 2012. Chase has good speed and should recover his ability to draw walks, so he could be a decent #2 hitter. If he fails to get on base enough, he could fall as far as 6th or 7th in the lineup. 2013 was going to be the year he earned a big contract, but that has evaporated. He's also going to be 31 years old in 2014, on the cusp of ... well, we'll have to see.
Batting 3rd: Yonder Alonso (1B) wins this spot by default. He's a young 26, and has hit well in his first two years with the club. Alonso can hit for average (.290 recently), but managed only 9 and 6 homers in those years. Not good for a #3 hitter. It's the best the team has, though. Prediction: His batting average will drop as he tries to build up his power numbers, say in the .260-.270 range, but he'll still fall short of 15 HRs.
Batting 4th: Carlos Quentin (LF) is an excellent slugger with a long history if injuries. The Padres paid him a lot of money and we're stuck with him for at least a couple more years. For five straight years he hit more than 20 homers a season (with other teams), but then he joined the Padres in 2012 and his HR totals dropped to 16 and 13. Quentin is hurt and is probably out for the season after playing only 82 games. Prediction: The Padres will have to eat his contract (who would trade for him with his injury history?) even though he he'll be hurt more often than he can play.
Batting 5th: Jedd Gyorko (2B) is the likely #4 hitter when Quentin can't play, but is slated for the five spot in 2014. Gyorko's a rookie, in his first season in the majors, and he has impressed us all with his superb play at secondbase and his level of maturity. He is second on the team in HRs (16) and his .254 batting average should improve over time. Prediction: My favorite player, the 24 year old should have a bright future, although the Padres will find a way to lose him to some other team.
Batting 6th: Nick Hundley is a fine catcher with otherwise modest talents. He's hit a career high 10 homers this season so far, though he is destined to be the backup to 24 year old Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is out for season with injuries and is also a suspended PED user. He hit .297 in 2012 over 60 games, but only .216 in 28 games in 2013. Prediction: Grandal will be the starting catcher in 2014, assuming he's healthy, but his success in college and his rapid rise from the low minors in 2010 to the major leagues in just two years is suspect. Who knows if he has any true talent that isn't PED boosted.
The rest of the lineup is a hodgepodge that changes with every game. The contenders for the last two spots in the lineup are:
Will Venable (OF) is having a career year, if one considers a .263 batting average, 17 homers, and 14 steals to be a "career" year. Asked to bat in the #1 spot with Cabrera suspended, he is getting a lot more at bats than usual. Under normal circumstances the 30 year old is platooned against lefty pitchers. He will be pushed by rookie Jaff Decker (yes, that's spelled correctly) who is getting a good look, though the 23 year old is hitting only .174 in 11 games so far. Prediction: Back to platooning in 2014 for Venable, back to the minor leagues for Decker.
Chris Denorfia (OF) is a solid, competent player who gets his 100-120 games each season. He has a little pop in his bat, some speed on the bases, and steady play. He'll also be turning 33 in 2014.
Alexi Amarista (OF, SS) is a versatile player still young enough (24) to make a future impact, but is projected more as a utility player than a regular with his .243 career batting average and low stolen base totals despite good speed. Prediction: Amarista is young enough and cheap enough and versatile enough to hold on to, but see Logan Forsythe below.
Logan Forsythe (multiple positions) falls into the same Amarista/Venable camp, though he is already 26. Prediction: Either Forsythe or Amarista will be traded; they won't keep both utility players. Jesus Guzman and Kyle Blanks are others wannabes who have yet to show they can hold a spot on the team.
Then there is Cameron Maybin (OF) who has shown glimpses that he can be a fine centerfielder with all the physical skills of a potential superstar: power, speed, strong arm, etc. Staked to a large contract, he's already played in parts of seven seasons though he has yet to see his 27th birthday. The clock is ticking, though, as he fights through injury after injury (out for the season after just 14 games). He's never had a break out season, has never hit more than 9 HRs, and never batted over .264 (.243 career). Yet, he is apparently "still" the great hope of for the team. Prediction: Even when healthy, he doesn't seem to be able to harness all that physical talent. Maybin will always be a "what he could have been" player.
So, there's our 2014 San Diego Padres hitters.
PS - We also rooted for a local little league team in Eastlake who made it to the Little League World Series, and came just one game short of winning the national title.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Forward and Back
Saturday (3 Aug 2013) - Forward and Back
Well, I missed my writer's group meeting on Thursday, 1 August. The group had to change the room where they met (there was a dinner meeting of a dentist's group in the room when I got to the library). I didn't get the word. That's the second meeting I've missed due to miscommunication. Or lack of communication. Partly my fault, since I didn't get any contact information from the group during the last meeting, but it would have been nice to have been contacted about the change. The library has a monthly calendar, too, but they hadn't posted the August schedule yet. I should have checked online. However, when I did remember to do that (after driving back home) the schedule showed that the writer's group was meeting on 8 August and 22 August instead of 1 and 15 August (the first and third Thursdays of the month). Since they actually did meet on 1 August, I'm pretty confused. I now have contact information from one of the members and sent an email to the group leader asking for clarification of the meeting schedule.
The "Majik of Spark" took a step forward and a couple of steps back this week. I did a run through of the novel specifically to reset the chapter breaks along more natural lines than the forced method I used when writing them. The result is that I expanded the over-sized original 12 chapters to a more fitting 25 chapters. I like the results.
A second change is going to require some additional work. I am expanding the story by five chapters. I wavered back and forth about where the ending to the novel should be, worried that I would keep adding to it and spilling more of the story into what should be the second book. So, I somewhat arbitrarily cut it off at a convenient stopping point, leaving the troupe of adventurers poised for new challenges at a relatively safe place. Then I started working on the second book.
It didn't take long for me to realize that there was still too much left hanging in Spark that would have to be explained in the second book, and things were just not matching up the way I wanted them to. No amount of stitching things together was working. I had simply ended the book prematurely. Now, I know that sounds like I can't finish the thing and will endlessly add to it. No. The five chapters I am adding each have very specific goals. I know exactly where I want all the various characters to be, and the situation I will leave them in, and these new chapters get them there. Three of the five chapters are in pretty good shape already. I'm not worried about the ending anymore.
Now comes the "step back" part. While I was walking through the book and setting proper chapter breaks, I came across a rather nasty incongruity. It didn't look hard to fix at first, and I tinkered at correcting it for a couple of days. Tinkering was not going to be enough, though. Without going into too much detail, I wrote a whole chapter that was based on information that I had not introduced into the story yet. There are a lot of strings attached to that chapter, so I can't simply move it, nor will it work by trying to introduce that information earlier. I will have to follow several story line threads both forward and back to repair that damage, and it will take some time to do it right.
Well, I missed my writer's group meeting on Thursday, 1 August. The group had to change the room where they met (there was a dinner meeting of a dentist's group in the room when I got to the library). I didn't get the word. That's the second meeting I've missed due to miscommunication. Or lack of communication. Partly my fault, since I didn't get any contact information from the group during the last meeting, but it would have been nice to have been contacted about the change. The library has a monthly calendar, too, but they hadn't posted the August schedule yet. I should have checked online. However, when I did remember to do that (after driving back home) the schedule showed that the writer's group was meeting on 8 August and 22 August instead of 1 and 15 August (the first and third Thursdays of the month). Since they actually did meet on 1 August, I'm pretty confused. I now have contact information from one of the members and sent an email to the group leader asking for clarification of the meeting schedule.
The "Majik of Spark" took a step forward and a couple of steps back this week. I did a run through of the novel specifically to reset the chapter breaks along more natural lines than the forced method I used when writing them. The result is that I expanded the over-sized original 12 chapters to a more fitting 25 chapters. I like the results.
A second change is going to require some additional work. I am expanding the story by five chapters. I wavered back and forth about where the ending to the novel should be, worried that I would keep adding to it and spilling more of the story into what should be the second book. So, I somewhat arbitrarily cut it off at a convenient stopping point, leaving the troupe of adventurers poised for new challenges at a relatively safe place. Then I started working on the second book.
It didn't take long for me to realize that there was still too much left hanging in Spark that would have to be explained in the second book, and things were just not matching up the way I wanted them to. No amount of stitching things together was working. I had simply ended the book prematurely. Now, I know that sounds like I can't finish the thing and will endlessly add to it. No. The five chapters I am adding each have very specific goals. I know exactly where I want all the various characters to be, and the situation I will leave them in, and these new chapters get them there. Three of the five chapters are in pretty good shape already. I'm not worried about the ending anymore.
Now comes the "step back" part. While I was walking through the book and setting proper chapter breaks, I came across a rather nasty incongruity. It didn't look hard to fix at first, and I tinkered at correcting it for a couple of days. Tinkering was not going to be enough, though. Without going into too much detail, I wrote a whole chapter that was based on information that I had not introduced into the story yet. There are a lot of strings attached to that chapter, so I can't simply move it, nor will it work by trying to introduce that information earlier. I will have to follow several story line threads both forward and back to repair that damage, and it will take some time to do it right.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
When The End is not THE END
Wednesday (31 Jul) - When The End is not THE END
The novel, The Majik of Spark, was officially completed in May, 2013. It came in at 295 pages with twelve very large chapters. I recently went through the book to set more natural chapter breaks, and after that was done I had a twenty-five chapter novel. Getting that first draft to something more polished and final is still a work in progress. I do have a reader who has been very helpful, and I've already made one change to the book based on her comments.
While the editing process continues I began putting together the second book of the trilogy. I have a rough chapter summary, something which I didn't have for the first book. I have the makings of two chapters for the second book as well. That's where I ran into a challenge.
The first book was about the world of Spark. The second book is to be about Spark's sister world, Chord. I struggled over how to start the second book, particularly how to transition the storyline from one world to the next. It finally dawned on me that the problem wasn't with the second book. The problem was that I had ended book one prematurely. I had been concerned about how to end the first book all along, worried that I would continue it endlessly and never finish it. As a result I ended up closing the cover a little too soon, with a few things left hanging that had to be in place before the second book could take flight.
So, how do I know when to end it now? Well, having worked back and forth between the ending of the first and the beginning of the second, I found the specific break points I wanted. In other words, it was now clear to me where all my characters should be, and in what situation, when the story closed. When I finally had that part spelled out, I knew what I still needed to do. When I finish this time, there will be thirty chapters instead of twenty-five. Two of those chapters are already mostly written, so I hope it won't take that long to wrap it up.
I doubt that will totally close the book. The editing and critiquing is still in progress. I am now delving into the background I had already prepared for book 2, and reading through that has raised some issues that I may have to go back to book 1 to address. These things are not plot related, but more about fleshing out book 1 to meet the expectations of book 2. Spark is a faded, badly damaged shell compared to the richness of Chord. To make that very clear in book 2, there needs to be more hints and vestiges in Spark to show just how far Spark had fallen, and what had been taken from them.
The novel, The Majik of Spark, was officially completed in May, 2013. It came in at 295 pages with twelve very large chapters. I recently went through the book to set more natural chapter breaks, and after that was done I had a twenty-five chapter novel. Getting that first draft to something more polished and final is still a work in progress. I do have a reader who has been very helpful, and I've already made one change to the book based on her comments.
While the editing process continues I began putting together the second book of the trilogy. I have a rough chapter summary, something which I didn't have for the first book. I have the makings of two chapters for the second book as well. That's where I ran into a challenge.
The first book was about the world of Spark. The second book is to be about Spark's sister world, Chord. I struggled over how to start the second book, particularly how to transition the storyline from one world to the next. It finally dawned on me that the problem wasn't with the second book. The problem was that I had ended book one prematurely. I had been concerned about how to end the first book all along, worried that I would continue it endlessly and never finish it. As a result I ended up closing the cover a little too soon, with a few things left hanging that had to be in place before the second book could take flight.
So, how do I know when to end it now? Well, having worked back and forth between the ending of the first and the beginning of the second, I found the specific break points I wanted. In other words, it was now clear to me where all my characters should be, and in what situation, when the story closed. When I finally had that part spelled out, I knew what I still needed to do. When I finish this time, there will be thirty chapters instead of twenty-five. Two of those chapters are already mostly written, so I hope it won't take that long to wrap it up.
I doubt that will totally close the book. The editing and critiquing is still in progress. I am now delving into the background I had already prepared for book 2, and reading through that has raised some issues that I may have to go back to book 1 to address. These things are not plot related, but more about fleshing out book 1 to meet the expectations of book 2. Spark is a faded, badly damaged shell compared to the richness of Chord. To make that very clear in book 2, there needs to be more hints and vestiges in Spark to show just how far Spark had fallen, and what had been taken from them.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Finally, a Writer's Group!
Finally, a Writer's Group!
On 18 July I made it to my first meeting of the Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Group. The group meets in a conference room at the local library in Chula Vista. We have a nice library. Not only are there the books to check out, there are large, comfortable spaces for reading, listening to music, watching movies, getting online, and other activities.
There were eight members at the meeting. For three of us, counting me, it was our first meeting. At first glance the outfits of a couple of members were, well, somewhat outlandish. Did I wander into a group that operated "in character" or something, like a World of Warcraft toon? It only took a few seconds for the light bulb to come on. This is the annual Comic-Con week, one of the biggest comics conventions in the country. Most everyone comes in costume for the event, and a couple of members had come to the meeting from the convention.
We all made introductions. The organizer, Robert, then gave a great presentation on what to do when that novel is finally finished. Talk about great timing for my first meeting! There was a lot of great information and I took copious notes, even though my cat bitten left hand (my writing hand) burned and complained at the abuse I was putting it through.
Three members gave readings from some of their work, which I enjoyed. I spoke up to tell the group that Robert had "ambushed" me on the night we met at the play writing evening by asking, "What is your book about? In one sentence." I didn't do so well that time, but I was prepared for this meeting and got to say my line, even if I did have to cheat from the back of my business card a little.
One new member, Melody, came as a proxy for her son, who has written more than one eBook novel and was looking for advice about improving sales. He and his family recently moved to Hawaii. Melody offered to do some reading of my novel and give a reader's opinion, which I was happy to accept. I also took a look at her son's most recent novel, Blood Brothers, and decided to give that a read and provide some feedback as well.
I came away from the meeting with homework. Should I ever get to pitch my novel to an agent/publisher, there is a list of things I must have ready to go at a moment's notice. Here is the short summary:
The one sentence story description - that I have
The five sentence summary of the book
The two page synopsis
Sample Chapters (1-3 usually)
The Complete Novel (in the correct format, of course)
A Character Synopsis (have it, but use only if it's asked for)
Out of the above comes the formal Query Letter.
There is a lot more information about what to do/prepare for if asked for a complete proposal.
My next task is to find out when and where the upcoming Writer's Conferences are being held. The best way to contact an agent is to run into one at one of the many conferences that are held. Agents are at these conferences to find talent. It doesn't come cheap, though. Typical conference fees run $300-$400 and up depending on which events you want to attend. If you manage to interest an agent, reading fees of $50 for each reading are pretty common. I am a bit fortunate (or unfortunate from a billfold perspective) that between now and February 2014 there are five Writer's Conferences scheduled within a two hour drive.
On 18 July I made it to my first meeting of the Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Group. The group meets in a conference room at the local library in Chula Vista. We have a nice library. Not only are there the books to check out, there are large, comfortable spaces for reading, listening to music, watching movies, getting online, and other activities.
There were eight members at the meeting. For three of us, counting me, it was our first meeting. At first glance the outfits of a couple of members were, well, somewhat outlandish. Did I wander into a group that operated "in character" or something, like a World of Warcraft toon? It only took a few seconds for the light bulb to come on. This is the annual Comic-Con week, one of the biggest comics conventions in the country. Most everyone comes in costume for the event, and a couple of members had come to the meeting from the convention.
We all made introductions. The organizer, Robert, then gave a great presentation on what to do when that novel is finally finished. Talk about great timing for my first meeting! There was a lot of great information and I took copious notes, even though my cat bitten left hand (my writing hand) burned and complained at the abuse I was putting it through.
Three members gave readings from some of their work, which I enjoyed. I spoke up to tell the group that Robert had "ambushed" me on the night we met at the play writing evening by asking, "What is your book about? In one sentence." I didn't do so well that time, but I was prepared for this meeting and got to say my line, even if I did have to cheat from the back of my business card a little.
One new member, Melody, came as a proxy for her son, who has written more than one eBook novel and was looking for advice about improving sales. He and his family recently moved to Hawaii. Melody offered to do some reading of my novel and give a reader's opinion, which I was happy to accept. I also took a look at her son's most recent novel, Blood Brothers, and decided to give that a read and provide some feedback as well.
I came away from the meeting with homework. Should I ever get to pitch my novel to an agent/publisher, there is a list of things I must have ready to go at a moment's notice. Here is the short summary:
The one sentence story description - that I have
The five sentence summary of the book
The two page synopsis
Sample Chapters (1-3 usually)
The Complete Novel (in the correct format, of course)
A Character Synopsis (have it, but use only if it's asked for)
Out of the above comes the formal Query Letter.
There is a lot more information about what to do/prepare for if asked for a complete proposal.
My next task is to find out when and where the upcoming Writer's Conferences are being held. The best way to contact an agent is to run into one at one of the many conferences that are held. Agents are at these conferences to find talent. It doesn't come cheap, though. Typical conference fees run $300-$400 and up depending on which events you want to attend. If you manage to interest an agent, reading fees of $50 for each reading are pretty common. I am a bit fortunate (or unfortunate from a billfold perspective) that between now and February 2014 there are five Writer's Conferences scheduled within a two hour drive.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Gaining Traction
Gaining Traction
Efforts to join/create a local writer's group in my area through the GBW Meetup group hasn't panned out so far. I had suggested and prodded for a listing of members by location to encourage smaller, area based groups, but getting that list from the organizers of the group was taking time. Since I was the one who suggested the idea, and I was the one who wanted the list, why wait for busy people to get around to it when I could do it?
There are close to 200 members of GBW, and with no search feature for location, I had to manually check each member's profile for the information. It was a bit time consuming, but simple enough to put together. Sally was very happy to get the list, and I got an enthusiastic thank you. Hopefully the list may inspire members to create their own localized writing groups.
As for the South Bay area where I live, there were only two other members, which would make for a pretty small group. Still, it was worth contacting them to see if there was interest. So far, there is none.
If not a group in my area, why not cast the net a bit farther? There is another group that meets in El Cajon, which is a bit of a drive, but doable. The group is called the East County Writer's Group, and I am a member. They appear to have more regular, attended meetings, than the GBR. I had to miss their first meeting after I joined, but planned to attend their next one, on July 11th.
And then sometimes fate intervenes. Last night we went to The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Balboa Park is the center of culture in San Diego, with numerous museums, parks, a fabulous zoo, and gardens. A friend of ours was taking a course in play writing, and we came to see the performance of her ten minute play, along with the plays of the other students of the class.
I have to admit that I was very impressed with the production and the plays. There were about ten actors who performed the plays, taking many roles over the course of the evening. Most of the student playwrights did not act in their play, but our friend did. We loved her play, and her acting was quite good as well. It will surely be something she'll treasure, and we, of course, had a great time.
Our friend, knowing that I was writer, introduced me to another writer in her class. He was in a writer's group for fantasy and science fiction writers. Really? What a coincidence, that is the genre I write in. Where do you meet? Are you in one of the online meetup groups? Well, the group he was in didn't use the online groups since, he explained, they tended to get too large and unwieldy, with poor participation. I had to agree with that. Up until now, though, I hadn't been able to find a better solution.
He invited me to come and meet the group at their next meeting. Where do they meet? They meet at the local library in the area, less than ten minutes from home.
Not only did I get an invitation, I got my first lesson as well. I mentioned that I was looking for help with my novel. He asked me to describe what the novel was about - in one sentence. Having read many tips about pitching a story/book, I knew I should have such as sentence ready. I have one, too. But I panicked and made a mess of it.
I believe I'm really going to like this group. I also think I'm going to have to work even harder to make this "writing thing" work. At least it appears that I may finally be getting some help with that.
Oh, and my one sentence description of the novel? Here it is:
"The story is about twin worlds bonded together by Song, one dying from a world consuming disease of magical making, the other so frightened of contagion it shamefully severs that bond, abandoning their twin, and the desperate journey of young adventurers sent by a mysterious goddess to restore the bond and heal both worlds."
Ok, I'll keep working on it.
Efforts to join/create a local writer's group in my area through the GBW Meetup group hasn't panned out so far. I had suggested and prodded for a listing of members by location to encourage smaller, area based groups, but getting that list from the organizers of the group was taking time. Since I was the one who suggested the idea, and I was the one who wanted the list, why wait for busy people to get around to it when I could do it?
There are close to 200 members of GBW, and with no search feature for location, I had to manually check each member's profile for the information. It was a bit time consuming, but simple enough to put together. Sally was very happy to get the list, and I got an enthusiastic thank you. Hopefully the list may inspire members to create their own localized writing groups.
As for the South Bay area where I live, there were only two other members, which would make for a pretty small group. Still, it was worth contacting them to see if there was interest. So far, there is none.
If not a group in my area, why not cast the net a bit farther? There is another group that meets in El Cajon, which is a bit of a drive, but doable. The group is called the East County Writer's Group, and I am a member. They appear to have more regular, attended meetings, than the GBR. I had to miss their first meeting after I joined, but planned to attend their next one, on July 11th.
And then sometimes fate intervenes. Last night we went to The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Balboa Park is the center of culture in San Diego, with numerous museums, parks, a fabulous zoo, and gardens. A friend of ours was taking a course in play writing, and we came to see the performance of her ten minute play, along with the plays of the other students of the class.
I have to admit that I was very impressed with the production and the plays. There were about ten actors who performed the plays, taking many roles over the course of the evening. Most of the student playwrights did not act in their play, but our friend did. We loved her play, and her acting was quite good as well. It will surely be something she'll treasure, and we, of course, had a great time.
Our friend, knowing that I was writer, introduced me to another writer in her class. He was in a writer's group for fantasy and science fiction writers. Really? What a coincidence, that is the genre I write in. Where do you meet? Are you in one of the online meetup groups? Well, the group he was in didn't use the online groups since, he explained, they tended to get too large and unwieldy, with poor participation. I had to agree with that. Up until now, though, I hadn't been able to find a better solution.
He invited me to come and meet the group at their next meeting. Where do they meet? They meet at the local library in the area, less than ten minutes from home.
Not only did I get an invitation, I got my first lesson as well. I mentioned that I was looking for help with my novel. He asked me to describe what the novel was about - in one sentence. Having read many tips about pitching a story/book, I knew I should have such as sentence ready. I have one, too. But I panicked and made a mess of it.
I believe I'm really going to like this group. I also think I'm going to have to work even harder to make this "writing thing" work. At least it appears that I may finally be getting some help with that.
Oh, and my one sentence description of the novel? Here it is:
"The story is about twin worlds bonded together by Song, one dying from a world consuming disease of magical making, the other so frightened of contagion it shamefully severs that bond, abandoning their twin, and the desperate journey of young adventurers sent by a mysterious goddess to restore the bond and heal both worlds."
Ok, I'll keep working on it.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Looking For Help
Looking For Help
"I would like to get a small writing group together in the South Bay area. I know there was some interest at the Upstart Crow reading a couple of weeks ago. I have never been part of a writing group before, so this is all new to me. I know I need help and advice, particularly for the novel I recently finished.
I don't have much in the way of credentials, but I gained a little experience reviewing and critiquing stories when I worked with the small press magazine Neophyte. I've also published an eBook and can talk to many of the issues involved with that kind of project.
Charlie Bell"
I posted this on the GBW discussion forum today. I'm not sure how many will read it. The forum had only one entry when I first joined GBW. Now it has three, the last two being posted by me. I had also previously sent the organizer, Sally, a message reminding her that she had intended to send out a list of member locations to help us organize our own internal groups. She returned a thanks for reminding her note, but nothing more happened.
Two more friends of mine are helping me out by reading the first draft of my novel, which I really appreciate. I got some early feedback from one of them. He had read about a third of it so far. He liked the quick pace and said that everything was very well explained, which was an important element for him. That's very encouraging to me.
One of the "tricks" to keep from backsliding on my writing came from the Upstart Crow reading. Sally suggested that we go to the section of books where our book would be and imagine it on the shelves. Take a picture of that shelf, and put it where it can always be seen when you write. I did that. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked well, at least not yet. I'm so invested in the first book right now, it's hard for me to focus on the second book, which I should be writing! I haven't been a complete slug, however. The first chapter is about half done. I've also started compiling a rough draft of future chapters. If I can forecast the characters and plot further out than the current chapter, I can probably increase the pace of my writing. The chapter outlines will only be a guide, however. My way of writing is to give my characters a lot of elbow room to be themselves. I set the environment, but their own actions directly influence what happens. That probably sounds strange, but when I write I very much believe in my characters and that they in some way have their own say in what happens to them.
"I would like to get a small writing group together in the South Bay area. I know there was some interest at the Upstart Crow reading a couple of weeks ago. I have never been part of a writing group before, so this is all new to me. I know I need help and advice, particularly for the novel I recently finished.
I don't have much in the way of credentials, but I gained a little experience reviewing and critiquing stories when I worked with the small press magazine Neophyte. I've also published an eBook and can talk to many of the issues involved with that kind of project.
Charlie Bell"
I posted this on the GBW discussion forum today. I'm not sure how many will read it. The forum had only one entry when I first joined GBW. Now it has three, the last two being posted by me. I had also previously sent the organizer, Sally, a message reminding her that she had intended to send out a list of member locations to help us organize our own internal groups. She returned a thanks for reminding her note, but nothing more happened.
Two more friends of mine are helping me out by reading the first draft of my novel, which I really appreciate. I got some early feedback from one of them. He had read about a third of it so far. He liked the quick pace and said that everything was very well explained, which was an important element for him. That's very encouraging to me.
One of the "tricks" to keep from backsliding on my writing came from the Upstart Crow reading. Sally suggested that we go to the section of books where our book would be and imagine it on the shelves. Take a picture of that shelf, and put it where it can always be seen when you write. I did that. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked well, at least not yet. I'm so invested in the first book right now, it's hard for me to focus on the second book, which I should be writing! I haven't been a complete slug, however. The first chapter is about half done. I've also started compiling a rough draft of future chapters. If I can forecast the characters and plot further out than the current chapter, I can probably increase the pace of my writing. The chapter outlines will only be a guide, however. My way of writing is to give my characters a lot of elbow room to be themselves. I set the environment, but their own actions directly influence what happens. That probably sounds strange, but when I write I very much believe in my characters and that they in some way have their own say in what happens to them.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday (23 May) - The Big Slam
Thursday (23 May) - The Big Slam
I attended my first meeting of the Go Be Write! (GBR) writer's group on Thursday night. The meeting was held at an eclectic bookstore called the Upstart Crow at the Seaport Village in San Diego.
Traffic was not as bad as I expected, so I arrived early. I hadn't been to the Seaport Village is awhile. It is mostly a tourist trap, but the beautiful view of San Diego Bay, the pleasant weather, excellent walking paths, and good restaurants make it worth a visit. I did some strolling before checking out the bookstore.
The Upstart Crow is a coffee house bookstore. It's a cozy nook of a place on two floors crowded with books, a coffee lounge, and numerous small tables for reading and relaxing. I liked it. Judi loves journals - the kind with decorative hard covers and fine, lined paper inside. The bookstore was well stocked with writing paraphernalia, so I got Judi a nice journal with a bird theme. No, I didn't find any featuring cats. Which seemed appropriate for a bookstore named the Upstart Crow.
It was obvious that a couple of patrons already settled in were part of the group. It was just as obvious that the young couple playing checkers on a three foot square checkerboard with coaster sized checkers were not part of the group. The couple found themselves later participating with the group whether they wanted to or not.
The organizer for the event, Sally, arrived shortly after I'd made my journal purchase and had found a place to sit. She must have a good memory for faces as she recognized me immediately from the photo on her website. Sally is energetic, fast talking, and operates at a kind of controlled frenetic pace. I had signed up for the event first, and Sally declared that meant I would be the first person to give a reading.
Oh, I just realized I hadn't described what the event was about. The "Thursday Night First Paragraph Slam" gives writer's an opportunity to read aloud a portion of their work. In the case of this particular event, we were to read the first paragraph and one of our stories. We would all vote on who had the best opening paragraph. There were no other rules, other than that the paragraph had to be relatively short. The two best entries would receive a copy of one of Sally's books.
We were about a half hour late getting started as many members had not shown up yet for the 6:30pm start. Those late arrivals got pleasant but pointed reminders to be on time. Her threat to disallow their votes was just that, threat only, and everyone got to vote, even random people who just happened to be in the store enjoying a latte during the reading. Sally eventually began checking off those who were here and those still missing. The first of the missing was declared to have been "killed in a car accident," and subsequent no shows joined the growing list of "presumed dead." All in the vein of graveyard humor, with an undercurrent of "you'd better be here and on time if you are serious about your craft."
I did get to do my reading - twice. I was the first to read, and I was asked to stand at the front of the narrow area. The folks at the back, however, could not hear me the first time, so I was asked to move to the center of the area and read it again. About twenty had signed up for the event, but there were only twelve who did readings, three men and nine women. Romance, young adult fiction, and memoirs were the main themes. I was the only writer of sci-fi/fantasy. In fact, Sally told a story of when she met the award winning sci-fi author Phillip K. Dick, and I was the only other person in the room who knew who he was. Ok, if you don't know the name, perhaps you'll know the movie. The movie "Blade Runner" was based on his novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."
I didn't win the contest, but I had a good time and met some nice people. The winner was a published author working on numerous projects. His first paragraph entry was good, but the selling point was really the back story he told before giving the reading. The story was based on a real person who spent 15 years in prison for the crimes detailed in the book.
I talked with Sally after the event. Many new members, like me, wanted to set up our own, smaller groups so that we could help each other. We made a list of those interested and broke it down by locality to make it easier to meet up. Sally said she would send out an email with further information on how to get started.
All in all it was a great first meeting for me.
I attended my first meeting of the Go Be Write! (GBR) writer's group on Thursday night. The meeting was held at an eclectic bookstore called the Upstart Crow at the Seaport Village in San Diego.
Traffic was not as bad as I expected, so I arrived early. I hadn't been to the Seaport Village is awhile. It is mostly a tourist trap, but the beautiful view of San Diego Bay, the pleasant weather, excellent walking paths, and good restaurants make it worth a visit. I did some strolling before checking out the bookstore.
The Upstart Crow is a coffee house bookstore. It's a cozy nook of a place on two floors crowded with books, a coffee lounge, and numerous small tables for reading and relaxing. I liked it. Judi loves journals - the kind with decorative hard covers and fine, lined paper inside. The bookstore was well stocked with writing paraphernalia, so I got Judi a nice journal with a bird theme. No, I didn't find any featuring cats. Which seemed appropriate for a bookstore named the Upstart Crow.
It was obvious that a couple of patrons already settled in were part of the group. It was just as obvious that the young couple playing checkers on a three foot square checkerboard with coaster sized checkers were not part of the group. The couple found themselves later participating with the group whether they wanted to or not.
The organizer for the event, Sally, arrived shortly after I'd made my journal purchase and had found a place to sit. She must have a good memory for faces as she recognized me immediately from the photo on her website. Sally is energetic, fast talking, and operates at a kind of controlled frenetic pace. I had signed up for the event first, and Sally declared that meant I would be the first person to give a reading.
Oh, I just realized I hadn't described what the event was about. The "Thursday Night First Paragraph Slam" gives writer's an opportunity to read aloud a portion of their work. In the case of this particular event, we were to read the first paragraph and one of our stories. We would all vote on who had the best opening paragraph. There were no other rules, other than that the paragraph had to be relatively short. The two best entries would receive a copy of one of Sally's books.
We were about a half hour late getting started as many members had not shown up yet for the 6:30pm start. Those late arrivals got pleasant but pointed reminders to be on time. Her threat to disallow their votes was just that, threat only, and everyone got to vote, even random people who just happened to be in the store enjoying a latte during the reading. Sally eventually began checking off those who were here and those still missing. The first of the missing was declared to have been "killed in a car accident," and subsequent no shows joined the growing list of "presumed dead." All in the vein of graveyard humor, with an undercurrent of "you'd better be here and on time if you are serious about your craft."
I did get to do my reading - twice. I was the first to read, and I was asked to stand at the front of the narrow area. The folks at the back, however, could not hear me the first time, so I was asked to move to the center of the area and read it again. About twenty had signed up for the event, but there were only twelve who did readings, three men and nine women. Romance, young adult fiction, and memoirs were the main themes. I was the only writer of sci-fi/fantasy. In fact, Sally told a story of when she met the award winning sci-fi author Phillip K. Dick, and I was the only other person in the room who knew who he was. Ok, if you don't know the name, perhaps you'll know the movie. The movie "Blade Runner" was based on his novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."
I didn't win the contest, but I had a good time and met some nice people. The winner was a published author working on numerous projects. His first paragraph entry was good, but the selling point was really the back story he told before giving the reading. The story was based on a real person who spent 15 years in prison for the crimes detailed in the book.
I talked with Sally after the event. Many new members, like me, wanted to set up our own, smaller groups so that we could help each other. We made a list of those interested and broke it down by locality to make it easier to meet up. Sally said she would send out an email with further information on how to get started.
All in all it was a great first meeting for me.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Majik of Spark, Chapter One Excerpt
The Majik of Spark, Chapter One Excerpt
Innkeeper Jaundice was thinking about her contented life and the many friends she had. She hummed a tune that helped her gain calm and clarity as she went about her work, but her thoughts strayed often to the coming evening and the heart rending changes she was facing. She concentrated on her work and her inn. She was proud of her establishment. There were many who laughed when she named her inn the Sodden Pit, and pitied her taste in decor that ran to small dark alcoves, darker corners, and hidden levels. The bright people of the Norgen that populated the Shining City would never come to such a place, they told her. They were right. The Sodden Pit never did catch on with the Norgen. She was not after the upper crust Norgen as customers, though. There was an underside to the City that was nearly as vibrant as the glittering metropolis itself, filled with Skelly travelers from Ridgeland and the even more exotic Thumps from distant Savagevista. Norgen who fell short of Norgen high expectations also found solace and company at the Sodden Pit. The Inn was her home and her life, and she feared leaving it. Not everyone could be rich and beautiful, two conditions that all Norgen aspired to, whether by birth or assistance by majik. The Norgen as a whole acted as if the world of Spark was a Norgen invention, and that everyone and everything else was created for their own use and amusement. At least that was how Jaundice saw things, and she was Norgen herself. Her family had provided for her, sending her off with a modest stake and high expectations for their bright, industrious daughter. They were less pleased at her decision to buy the inn, but like most Norgen parents they followed tradition. Jaundice had reached adulthood and, therefore, was on her own. As for her skeptical friends, Jaundice simply smiled and kept working on her dream. Jaundice still gets the occasional groups who thought it fun to go slumming at her establishment. Admittedly, Jaundice corrected herself mentally, as she scrubbed a stubborn stain splashed across the wall of a corner table, she did not have a lot of experience with the world outside the lands of the Norgen. She loved listening to the stories of her customers, though.
The Shining City encompassed both the city and much of the land around it. The great City itself had been carved out of the Northern Heights, a cracked landscape of sharp rock and sheer precipices. Interspersed in that unforgiving terrain, life still flourished in bubbling springs and ponds, many of which did not freeze even in the harshest of winters. Spread out to the south was the Glades with it's vast resources of fertile land and forest covering a third of the continent. Outside the direct influence of the Shining City, the land to the south grew more rural. It was a gradual transition from the higher elevations and rockier ground surrounding the bustling Shining City. There was no official boundary line, but the land gently transformed into rolling hills and pleasant valleys dotted with farms, horse land, and tamed forest. Townships small and large dotted the land as well.
The Norgen prospered, raised families, built roads, and settled communities. The Council of Fathers provided a light hand of governance. The real power lay with the Order of Shopkeepers, which controlled commerce. There was a City Guard to uphold the law in the Shining City, and each major township in the Glades maintained a local militia. Jaundice grew up with her parents in Split Rail Township not ten miles from the City gates, a slow day's travel north along the People's Road. She longed to see more of the world, but her inn was satisfaction enough.
Beyond the Glades was the south/southeast border with Ridgeland. Ridgeland was blessed with verdant valleys and strong rivers flowing from a series of mountain ranges which hacked the country into four long chunks. Ridgeland is the home of the Skellys. The Seven Cauldrons of Skellys are an ancient people with ancient majiks. The valley Skellys are more open to trade and more accepting of strangers. Skelly travelers to the Shining City are universally valley skellys. The mountain Skellys largely remain insular, mistrusting of strangers even among their neighboring Skelly cauldrons. Past the eastern border of Ridgeland lay Savagevista, home of the Thumps. Thump warrior caste soldiers and Skelly Sworn often warred back and forth across that border, despite the fact that much of the land on both sides of the border were barely habitable. And of course, made even less habitable by the wars. The Shining City and the Glades, Ridgeland, and Savagevista made up the continent of the Wilderness Shelf. There was a fourth piece, one mostly avoided and rarely mentioned: The Drain. The Drain was an almost landlocked chunk of land bordered by all three countries. The name seemed to be a misnomer, since The Drain occupied the highest elevation of the mountainous shelf system and boasted the tallest, sheerest mountains on the continent. The region earned the name of The Drain because that is where the dregs of life went when there was no where else for them to go. Only one people of note called that place home or wanted any part of it, and they were most often called renegades.
Despite Jaundice's lack of travel, she felt more worldly than most of the Norgen she knew. Jaundice's clientele did include some of the lower classes of Norgen, those who worked and scraped for a living like Jaundice did. They were a proud lower class, though, and non-Norgen found it difficult - but not impossible - to live here, if not prosper. Many of the visitors to her inn came from the lands of Ridgeland and Savagevista. Some had business here, and chose her inn for it's privacy, simple but ample fare, and the best beer in the City (in Jaundice's opinion). Some came to her inn just to avoid the uppity Norgen. It was a place where deals could be made, too. It was a place most newcomers wound up at eventually, hopefully with enough in their pocket to pay for room and board for whatever period was needed. For those others who came - those whose money had run out, or had become entangled in something worse than empty pockets, Jaundice did what she could for them.
Jaundice finished her sweeping and cleaning, setting her cleaning supplies and tools into their accustomed corner. She dusted off her frock with her hands, and pushed stray strands of auburn hair back under her cap. Her clothing ran to the reserved, which her clientele seemed to appreciate. She was plain looking and at five foot eight, short for a Norgen, but still had the fair skin, slender build, expressive eyes, button ears, and unconscious grace common to all Norgen. Her one vanity had been her lustrous hair, which had rivaled that of the most beautiful of the Norgen. Two years ago a company of Skelly performers had taken residence in her inn for a few nights. One in particular had been entranced by Jaundice's hair. The Skelly people are thin to the point of starvation, grayish skin stretched tight across bones strong as steel arrow shafts. Skelly hair was also thin and near colorless. The long strands were pliable, however, and skelly hairdos were as many and as unique as the imagination and dyes could make them.
One of the skelly performers, Phegga, was also a majik. Most skellys learned at least some majiks, but this one had been trained in the arts. She told Jaundice she could illuminate her tresses beyond even it's current beauty. Jaundice, secretly pleased by the attention of a majik, said no, but the skelly persisted. Day after day the skelly made her offer. Jaundice, wary of free gifts from strangers, but privately drawn to the idea, demanded to know what the skelly majik wanted in return. Phegga’s answer was to ask for a single strand of Jaundice's hair, taken at the root, which the skelly could use for her majik craft to make fine wigs the skelly would sell. The skelly even offered to give Jaundice a percentage of the sales. On the last day of their stay, Jaundice, fearing that this was her last chance, agreed to the deal.
Jaundice heard the door chime. She glanced toward the entrance and saw Fat Deet coming in to take her work shift. Jaundice gave a pleasant nod at Deet's "Mornin' Maam. " Deet had been Jaundice’s anchor very nearly since the day Jaundice opened the inn. Deet ruled the rest of the inn’s staff and capably handled the day-to-day management. She was a typical Norgen of six feet. Her nickname, “Fat Deet” was a fond endearment of Jaundice’s that the household staff would never use (at least to her face). Deet had twelve children, and seemed to have spent most of her life pregnant. All of Deet’s children, except the two youngest at three and five, worked at the inn. Deet had worn out four husbands, although she claimed that each new one was her last. So far there was no fifth, although jaundice had her suspicions about that.
Deet saw through Jaundice, though, recognizing the inward look of the flashback that sometimes overtook her. "I've got it," Deet told her, taking command of the counter. "But could you check on the hops? I'm not sure we have enough on hand for the brewing I've got planned." Jaundice gave Deet a nod of thanks and fled behind the counter. She turned and slipped through the door concealed behind a false wall.
Jaundice took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She stepped further into her small apartment and on toward the back, passing through the one room living room-dining room-kitchen and into her tidy little bedroom. In the even smaller washroom tucked into the bedroom, Jaundice stood in front of a brilliantly shined mirror over her sink. There was not a speck of dust on the mirror, which shone with an inner light despite the dim interior. Even so, Jaundice took a soft cloth and brushed the mirror clean of imaginary imperfections. Jaundice reached up and slowly removed her cap. The cap was evenly round and fit perfectly on her scalp, leaving her ears free and exposed. She held the cap at her breast, clenched in both hands. The fine auburn hair peeking out from under her cap- that customer's saw- was all that was left of her true silken threads. Her pride and vanity was gone. The few auburn strands were just that - mere strands. The rest of her hair was a horror. No head of hair could have looked more tortured. Blackened ends, corked and spiked, twisted into painful knots, as colorful as dark vomit, it gleamed wetly and ... twitched. Even worse was the low, ugly sounds that each slobbery twitch caused.
Deet knew that someone had done something horrible to Jaundice's tresses. She knew the loss of Jaundice's beloved hair had left a trauma she still suffered from. Not even Deet, though, had ever seen Jaundice without her cap since. And no one would, Jaundice promised herself fiercely. She placed the cap carefully back on her head, and whispered the simple majik that kept it there. After the skelly majik had stolen her hair - for that is what had been done to her - Deet had gotten her to a reputable majik in the City. The local majik knew without needing to see what had been done to Jaundice, and sadly, told her there was no majik she knew that could undo what had been done. All the local majik could do was help her hide her shame. Jaundice's mirror was also a thing of majik. Before the skelly majik encounter, Jaundice had spent a half-year's profit to get it, to better appreciate her natural gift. She refused to remove the mirror, leaving it in place as a permanent reminder of her stupidity and folly. Jaundice, her cap firmly in place, patted her cheeks to add some life to her pallid appearance. She slipped past the counter and left to make her rounds.
Innkeeper Jaundice was thinking about her contented life and the many friends she had. She hummed a tune that helped her gain calm and clarity as she went about her work, but her thoughts strayed often to the coming evening and the heart rending changes she was facing. She concentrated on her work and her inn. She was proud of her establishment. There were many who laughed when she named her inn the Sodden Pit, and pitied her taste in decor that ran to small dark alcoves, darker corners, and hidden levels. The bright people of the Norgen that populated the Shining City would never come to such a place, they told her. They were right. The Sodden Pit never did catch on with the Norgen. She was not after the upper crust Norgen as customers, though. There was an underside to the City that was nearly as vibrant as the glittering metropolis itself, filled with Skelly travelers from Ridgeland and the even more exotic Thumps from distant Savagevista. Norgen who fell short of Norgen high expectations also found solace and company at the Sodden Pit. The Inn was her home and her life, and she feared leaving it. Not everyone could be rich and beautiful, two conditions that all Norgen aspired to, whether by birth or assistance by majik. The Norgen as a whole acted as if the world of Spark was a Norgen invention, and that everyone and everything else was created for their own use and amusement. At least that was how Jaundice saw things, and she was Norgen herself. Her family had provided for her, sending her off with a modest stake and high expectations for their bright, industrious daughter. They were less pleased at her decision to buy the inn, but like most Norgen parents they followed tradition. Jaundice had reached adulthood and, therefore, was on her own. As for her skeptical friends, Jaundice simply smiled and kept working on her dream. Jaundice still gets the occasional groups who thought it fun to go slumming at her establishment. Admittedly, Jaundice corrected herself mentally, as she scrubbed a stubborn stain splashed across the wall of a corner table, she did not have a lot of experience with the world outside the lands of the Norgen. She loved listening to the stories of her customers, though.
The Shining City encompassed both the city and much of the land around it. The great City itself had been carved out of the Northern Heights, a cracked landscape of sharp rock and sheer precipices. Interspersed in that unforgiving terrain, life still flourished in bubbling springs and ponds, many of which did not freeze even in the harshest of winters. Spread out to the south was the Glades with it's vast resources of fertile land and forest covering a third of the continent. Outside the direct influence of the Shining City, the land to the south grew more rural. It was a gradual transition from the higher elevations and rockier ground surrounding the bustling Shining City. There was no official boundary line, but the land gently transformed into rolling hills and pleasant valleys dotted with farms, horse land, and tamed forest. Townships small and large dotted the land as well.
The Norgen prospered, raised families, built roads, and settled communities. The Council of Fathers provided a light hand of governance. The real power lay with the Order of Shopkeepers, which controlled commerce. There was a City Guard to uphold the law in the Shining City, and each major township in the Glades maintained a local militia. Jaundice grew up with her parents in Split Rail Township not ten miles from the City gates, a slow day's travel north along the People's Road. She longed to see more of the world, but her inn was satisfaction enough.
Beyond the Glades was the south/southeast border with Ridgeland. Ridgeland was blessed with verdant valleys and strong rivers flowing from a series of mountain ranges which hacked the country into four long chunks. Ridgeland is the home of the Skellys. The Seven Cauldrons of Skellys are an ancient people with ancient majiks. The valley Skellys are more open to trade and more accepting of strangers. Skelly travelers to the Shining City are universally valley skellys. The mountain Skellys largely remain insular, mistrusting of strangers even among their neighboring Skelly cauldrons. Past the eastern border of Ridgeland lay Savagevista, home of the Thumps. Thump warrior caste soldiers and Skelly Sworn often warred back and forth across that border, despite the fact that much of the land on both sides of the border were barely habitable. And of course, made even less habitable by the wars. The Shining City and the Glades, Ridgeland, and Savagevista made up the continent of the Wilderness Shelf. There was a fourth piece, one mostly avoided and rarely mentioned: The Drain. The Drain was an almost landlocked chunk of land bordered by all three countries. The name seemed to be a misnomer, since The Drain occupied the highest elevation of the mountainous shelf system and boasted the tallest, sheerest mountains on the continent. The region earned the name of The Drain because that is where the dregs of life went when there was no where else for them to go. Only one people of note called that place home or wanted any part of it, and they were most often called renegades.
Despite Jaundice's lack of travel, she felt more worldly than most of the Norgen she knew. Jaundice's clientele did include some of the lower classes of Norgen, those who worked and scraped for a living like Jaundice did. They were a proud lower class, though, and non-Norgen found it difficult - but not impossible - to live here, if not prosper. Many of the visitors to her inn came from the lands of Ridgeland and Savagevista. Some had business here, and chose her inn for it's privacy, simple but ample fare, and the best beer in the City (in Jaundice's opinion). Some came to her inn just to avoid the uppity Norgen. It was a place where deals could be made, too. It was a place most newcomers wound up at eventually, hopefully with enough in their pocket to pay for room and board for whatever period was needed. For those others who came - those whose money had run out, or had become entangled in something worse than empty pockets, Jaundice did what she could for them.
Jaundice finished her sweeping and cleaning, setting her cleaning supplies and tools into their accustomed corner. She dusted off her frock with her hands, and pushed stray strands of auburn hair back under her cap. Her clothing ran to the reserved, which her clientele seemed to appreciate. She was plain looking and at five foot eight, short for a Norgen, but still had the fair skin, slender build, expressive eyes, button ears, and unconscious grace common to all Norgen. Her one vanity had been her lustrous hair, which had rivaled that of the most beautiful of the Norgen. Two years ago a company of Skelly performers had taken residence in her inn for a few nights. One in particular had been entranced by Jaundice's hair. The Skelly people are thin to the point of starvation, grayish skin stretched tight across bones strong as steel arrow shafts. Skelly hair was also thin and near colorless. The long strands were pliable, however, and skelly hairdos were as many and as unique as the imagination and dyes could make them.
One of the skelly performers, Phegga, was also a majik. Most skellys learned at least some majiks, but this one had been trained in the arts. She told Jaundice she could illuminate her tresses beyond even it's current beauty. Jaundice, secretly pleased by the attention of a majik, said no, but the skelly persisted. Day after day the skelly made her offer. Jaundice, wary of free gifts from strangers, but privately drawn to the idea, demanded to know what the skelly majik wanted in return. Phegga’s answer was to ask for a single strand of Jaundice's hair, taken at the root, which the skelly could use for her majik craft to make fine wigs the skelly would sell. The skelly even offered to give Jaundice a percentage of the sales. On the last day of their stay, Jaundice, fearing that this was her last chance, agreed to the deal.
Jaundice heard the door chime. She glanced toward the entrance and saw Fat Deet coming in to take her work shift. Jaundice gave a pleasant nod at Deet's "Mornin' Maam. " Deet had been Jaundice’s anchor very nearly since the day Jaundice opened the inn. Deet ruled the rest of the inn’s staff and capably handled the day-to-day management. She was a typical Norgen of six feet. Her nickname, “Fat Deet” was a fond endearment of Jaundice’s that the household staff would never use (at least to her face). Deet had twelve children, and seemed to have spent most of her life pregnant. All of Deet’s children, except the two youngest at three and five, worked at the inn. Deet had worn out four husbands, although she claimed that each new one was her last. So far there was no fifth, although jaundice had her suspicions about that.
Deet saw through Jaundice, though, recognizing the inward look of the flashback that sometimes overtook her. "I've got it," Deet told her, taking command of the counter. "But could you check on the hops? I'm not sure we have enough on hand for the brewing I've got planned." Jaundice gave Deet a nod of thanks and fled behind the counter. She turned and slipped through the door concealed behind a false wall.
Jaundice took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She stepped further into her small apartment and on toward the back, passing through the one room living room-dining room-kitchen and into her tidy little bedroom. In the even smaller washroom tucked into the bedroom, Jaundice stood in front of a brilliantly shined mirror over her sink. There was not a speck of dust on the mirror, which shone with an inner light despite the dim interior. Even so, Jaundice took a soft cloth and brushed the mirror clean of imaginary imperfections. Jaundice reached up and slowly removed her cap. The cap was evenly round and fit perfectly on her scalp, leaving her ears free and exposed. She held the cap at her breast, clenched in both hands. The fine auburn hair peeking out from under her cap- that customer's saw- was all that was left of her true silken threads. Her pride and vanity was gone. The few auburn strands were just that - mere strands. The rest of her hair was a horror. No head of hair could have looked more tortured. Blackened ends, corked and spiked, twisted into painful knots, as colorful as dark vomit, it gleamed wetly and ... twitched. Even worse was the low, ugly sounds that each slobbery twitch caused.
Deet knew that someone had done something horrible to Jaundice's tresses. She knew the loss of Jaundice's beloved hair had left a trauma she still suffered from. Not even Deet, though, had ever seen Jaundice without her cap since. And no one would, Jaundice promised herself fiercely. She placed the cap carefully back on her head, and whispered the simple majik that kept it there. After the skelly majik had stolen her hair - for that is what had been done to her - Deet had gotten her to a reputable majik in the City. The local majik knew without needing to see what had been done to Jaundice, and sadly, told her there was no majik she knew that could undo what had been done. All the local majik could do was help her hide her shame. Jaundice's mirror was also a thing of majik. Before the skelly majik encounter, Jaundice had spent a half-year's profit to get it, to better appreciate her natural gift. She refused to remove the mirror, leaving it in place as a permanent reminder of her stupidity and folly. Jaundice, her cap firmly in place, patted her cheeks to add some life to her pallid appearance. She slipped past the counter and left to make her rounds.
Monday, May 13, 2013
First Draft of Novel Complete
First Draft of Novel Complete
Well, I can now say that I've written a novel. I even did a self-edit to catch any glaring discrepancies. I found surprisingly few, which probably means I missed a lot of things. The actual date I finished was on 9 May, 2013. After abandoning the first effort and discarding it's 25,000 words, I made my second start on New year's eve, 2012. Four months and a week later it was done.
As I begin to look at what happens after that, the actual writing starts to look easy by comparison. The novel will need to be critiqued, edited, and polished. That process will become a bit more formal when I attend the First Paragraph Slam on 23 May, where I will do a reading of the first paragraph of the novel. Twelve other writers have signed up for the event so far. After that get together, GBW will focus on writing groups, where I should start to see some help improving on the first draft and learning about agents, publishers, etc.
I'm currently obsessing over the query letter. Sooner than later I hope to be actually promoting the book and submitting it to agents and publishers. The query letter is a single page cover letter generally divided into the Hook, a short synopsis of the book, and an author biography. It sounds simple enough, but a lot rides on the query letter. I've been writing and re-writing it for a week now and I still don't think it's as good as it needs to be.
For practice and comment, I am providing my current, working version. It should be intriguing enough to get the publisher/agent interested enough to ask for more. They get thousands of query letters, and if you don't hook'em quickly it'll go quickly from the slush pile (the stack of stuff waiting to be read) to the garbage pile.
The Hook:
When Innkeeper Jaundice discovers a renegade goddess in the basement of her inn claiming to be from the mythical world of Chord, the twin sister to her own world of Spark, she must choose between a life lived vicariously through the tales of her customers or to believe the fantastic story spun by the proclaimed goddess Mela-nnee.
The Synopsis:
Jaundice has serious doubts, but what she could not explain away is the sentient mandolin named Flea that Mela-nnee declared carried the Song of the Worlds. Mela-nnee admitted to stealing Flea, but claimed it was done to right ancient wrongs. Jaundice wants to believe the myths. That Chord held a power called Song which used music as the bedrock of their culture. That Chord used Song as the ultimate weapon to betray and isolate Spark from Chord. That the betrayal led to the rise and fall of the majik wielding wizard's who warred amongst themselves and turned Spark into a world both bereft of the Song and decaying from within.
Jaundice has a thirst to explore beyond the walls of the Shining City and the counter of her inn, and a need to find answers to past horrors she kept hidden. At Mela-nnee's urging, Jaundice assembles a troupe of young peers, among them three Norgen, like Jaundice, looking to make their own mark. A Thump warrior estranged from his home country of Savagevista also joins the troupe. Eighteen year old Philly is the last to join, an orphaned Skelly with wild majik talents she can hardly control.
Mela-nnee's arrival with Flea creates ripples across their world. The great wizard Taint rises from the ruins of the wizard fortress, Kracckndoom. The ancient rivalry between the Norgen and Skelly people races toward war. Strange beasts and once-men are belched out of The Drain in an Outflow not seen in generations.
Into and through that chaos Jaundice and her troupe set forth on a journey to find the Custodian Keys lost during the Wizard Wars, uncover the location of the Vessels of Blood, and connect it all into a weapon capable of breaking the Seal that isolates Spark and brings the Song of the Worlds back to them. And on Chord, the ancient powers of that world turn to Spark. Chord will have Flea back, even if it means the final destruction of Spark.
The Biography:
The Majik of Spark is my first novel. It's the first of a planned trilogy set in the twin worlds of Spark and Chord.
I published science fiction and horror short stories in numerous small press magazines during the 1990's. In 2011 I consolidated my previously published stories as well as new work into an eBook collection called "Raised by the Fox." I write under the pseudonym J Walker Bell.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you. The beginning paragraphs of The Majik of Spark are available on my website, jwalkerbell.com.
Well, I can now say that I've written a novel. I even did a self-edit to catch any glaring discrepancies. I found surprisingly few, which probably means I missed a lot of things. The actual date I finished was on 9 May, 2013. After abandoning the first effort and discarding it's 25,000 words, I made my second start on New year's eve, 2012. Four months and a week later it was done.
As I begin to look at what happens after that, the actual writing starts to look easy by comparison. The novel will need to be critiqued, edited, and polished. That process will become a bit more formal when I attend the First Paragraph Slam on 23 May, where I will do a reading of the first paragraph of the novel. Twelve other writers have signed up for the event so far. After that get together, GBW will focus on writing groups, where I should start to see some help improving on the first draft and learning about agents, publishers, etc.
I'm currently obsessing over the query letter. Sooner than later I hope to be actually promoting the book and submitting it to agents and publishers. The query letter is a single page cover letter generally divided into the Hook, a short synopsis of the book, and an author biography. It sounds simple enough, but a lot rides on the query letter. I've been writing and re-writing it for a week now and I still don't think it's as good as it needs to be.
For practice and comment, I am providing my current, working version. It should be intriguing enough to get the publisher/agent interested enough to ask for more. They get thousands of query letters, and if you don't hook'em quickly it'll go quickly from the slush pile (the stack of stuff waiting to be read) to the garbage pile.
The Hook:
When Innkeeper Jaundice discovers a renegade goddess in the basement of her inn claiming to be from the mythical world of Chord, the twin sister to her own world of Spark, she must choose between a life lived vicariously through the tales of her customers or to believe the fantastic story spun by the proclaimed goddess Mela-nnee.
The Synopsis:
Jaundice has serious doubts, but what she could not explain away is the sentient mandolin named Flea that Mela-nnee declared carried the Song of the Worlds. Mela-nnee admitted to stealing Flea, but claimed it was done to right ancient wrongs. Jaundice wants to believe the myths. That Chord held a power called Song which used music as the bedrock of their culture. That Chord used Song as the ultimate weapon to betray and isolate Spark from Chord. That the betrayal led to the rise and fall of the majik wielding wizard's who warred amongst themselves and turned Spark into a world both bereft of the Song and decaying from within.
Jaundice has a thirst to explore beyond the walls of the Shining City and the counter of her inn, and a need to find answers to past horrors she kept hidden. At Mela-nnee's urging, Jaundice assembles a troupe of young peers, among them three Norgen, like Jaundice, looking to make their own mark. A Thump warrior estranged from his home country of Savagevista also joins the troupe. Eighteen year old Philly is the last to join, an orphaned Skelly with wild majik talents she can hardly control.
Mela-nnee's arrival with Flea creates ripples across their world. The great wizard Taint rises from the ruins of the wizard fortress, Kracckndoom. The ancient rivalry between the Norgen and Skelly people races toward war. Strange beasts and once-men are belched out of The Drain in an Outflow not seen in generations.
Into and through that chaos Jaundice and her troupe set forth on a journey to find the Custodian Keys lost during the Wizard Wars, uncover the location of the Vessels of Blood, and connect it all into a weapon capable of breaking the Seal that isolates Spark and brings the Song of the Worlds back to them. And on Chord, the ancient powers of that world turn to Spark. Chord will have Flea back, even if it means the final destruction of Spark.
The Biography:
The Majik of Spark is my first novel. It's the first of a planned trilogy set in the twin worlds of Spark and Chord.
I published science fiction and horror short stories in numerous small press magazines during the 1990's. In 2011 I consolidated my previously published stories as well as new work into an eBook collection called "Raised by the Fox." I write under the pseudonym J Walker Bell.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you. The beginning paragraphs of The Majik of Spark are available on my website, jwalkerbell.com.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
The May Events
The May Events
The group leader of Go, Be, Write! (GBW), Sally, definitely believes in her "tough love" approach. She admitted early on that she was dealing with some deadlines and could not be as active as she liked until those deadlines were met. Now that she has freed up some time she has done an amazing job of getting the word out to members about a whole list of activities for writers that are coming up in the month of May alone.
I was a little overwhelmed by the sudden influx of opportunities and needed to take some time to get them sorted out into what I really wanted to attend and what I could attend if I wanted to travel - as far as Los Angeles, for example. I am also in the throes of trying to pin down the final chapter of my novel, which is like having a kid on a roller coaster who doesn't want to ever get off.
The one event I have signed up for is called the "Thursday Night First Paragraph Slam." It's being held at a local bookstore on May 23rd. About ten members have signed up for it so far. In addition to getting know other writers in the group, we have the opportunity to read the first paragraph of one of our works. I will be reading the first paragraph of my almost finished novel, The Majik of Spark. We will all vote on who wrote the best paragraph and the winner will get a prize.
I've also decided to go to the anniversary of a local bookstore called the Mysterious Galaxy. That will be an all day affair (depending how long I decide to stay) with a list of published authors available to talk to and meet with. That is on May 11th, but I won't get to meet Sally there, as she has a competing meeting that day up in the LA area. I think I'll keep things at just those two for now.
Having announced all those upcoming events, Sally put the word out that she isn't happy with the turn out so far. I like her approach. Paraphrasing her, she said that if you are not writing you should be attending these events and getting better at your craft. If writing is what is keeping you from attending, then you should at least come to the paragraph slam event so you can show off your work.
When I sent out Chapter 12 of the novel to my writing buddies, I suggested that it was time to put "The End" on the novel. It's the first book of a proposed trilogy, and I've discovered that ending "Book One, The Majik of Spark" is a significant challenge for me. While still thinking about how to close things out properly, I wrote two-thirds of Chapter 13. It's not that I don't want to end the book. I am actually anxious to start Book Two, for which I already have a lot of background prepared.
So, what's my problem? Honestly, I think I'm trying to make a perfect ending, one that will satisfy readers, set up the next book, and leave readers in enough suspense to want to read that next book. Here's the conundrum I have to consider. As the book stands, I can end it with a kiss, both figuratively and in reality. I kind of like that. The reader knows where things stand with their group of adventurers, and know that their next challenge awaits them.
What I haven't done a good enough job of, though, I think, is keeping the reader informed of the broader picture. I have armies on the move, and a major falling out of the two most powerful players. My first thought is that during my first full edit of the first draft I would insert more insight into that broader picture, so that the book could end where it currently sits.
Another option that I am considering, is to get the reader up to speed on all the other moving pieces in an epilogue that would become the bridge to the second book. I like that idea, because I like writing prologues and epilogues. I'm just not sure that is the right path, though.
The third option is to continue for another 1-3 chapters, whatever it would take to point out all those broader actions, and then wrap things up that way. Too much more advancement of the story in the first book will almost certainly create tangles with the approach I've laid out for the second book.
I believe my approach is going to be to set a tentative end at the completed Chapter 12. I will do my first full edit, and see if that clears up any remaining reservations I have. If I'm happy with the ending, then I can decide whether an epilogue is appropriate, or if I should just write a teaser about what to look forward in the next book. I know my writing buddies have to be wondering what "broader actions" I'm talking about that they still don't know about after 12 chapters. It reminds me of one of the writing tips Kurt Vonnegut applies to his work, which is to always tell the reader everything. Don't stick "gotchas" into the story, or throw new things in there without preparing the reader for them. I do think I've violated that to some extent that has to be fixed.
Maybe I'll be inspired by the events I am going to and I'll come up with an even better idea.
The group leader of Go, Be, Write! (GBW), Sally, definitely believes in her "tough love" approach. She admitted early on that she was dealing with some deadlines and could not be as active as she liked until those deadlines were met. Now that she has freed up some time she has done an amazing job of getting the word out to members about a whole list of activities for writers that are coming up in the month of May alone.
I was a little overwhelmed by the sudden influx of opportunities and needed to take some time to get them sorted out into what I really wanted to attend and what I could attend if I wanted to travel - as far as Los Angeles, for example. I am also in the throes of trying to pin down the final chapter of my novel, which is like having a kid on a roller coaster who doesn't want to ever get off.
The one event I have signed up for is called the "Thursday Night First Paragraph Slam." It's being held at a local bookstore on May 23rd. About ten members have signed up for it so far. In addition to getting know other writers in the group, we have the opportunity to read the first paragraph of one of our works. I will be reading the first paragraph of my almost finished novel, The Majik of Spark. We will all vote on who wrote the best paragraph and the winner will get a prize.
I've also decided to go to the anniversary of a local bookstore called the Mysterious Galaxy. That will be an all day affair (depending how long I decide to stay) with a list of published authors available to talk to and meet with. That is on May 11th, but I won't get to meet Sally there, as she has a competing meeting that day up in the LA area. I think I'll keep things at just those two for now.
Having announced all those upcoming events, Sally put the word out that she isn't happy with the turn out so far. I like her approach. Paraphrasing her, she said that if you are not writing you should be attending these events and getting better at your craft. If writing is what is keeping you from attending, then you should at least come to the paragraph slam event so you can show off your work.
When I sent out Chapter 12 of the novel to my writing buddies, I suggested that it was time to put "The End" on the novel. It's the first book of a proposed trilogy, and I've discovered that ending "Book One, The Majik of Spark" is a significant challenge for me. While still thinking about how to close things out properly, I wrote two-thirds of Chapter 13. It's not that I don't want to end the book. I am actually anxious to start Book Two, for which I already have a lot of background prepared.
So, what's my problem? Honestly, I think I'm trying to make a perfect ending, one that will satisfy readers, set up the next book, and leave readers in enough suspense to want to read that next book. Here's the conundrum I have to consider. As the book stands, I can end it with a kiss, both figuratively and in reality. I kind of like that. The reader knows where things stand with their group of adventurers, and know that their next challenge awaits them.
What I haven't done a good enough job of, though, I think, is keeping the reader informed of the broader picture. I have armies on the move, and a major falling out of the two most powerful players. My first thought is that during my first full edit of the first draft I would insert more insight into that broader picture, so that the book could end where it currently sits.
Another option that I am considering, is to get the reader up to speed on all the other moving pieces in an epilogue that would become the bridge to the second book. I like that idea, because I like writing prologues and epilogues. I'm just not sure that is the right path, though.
The third option is to continue for another 1-3 chapters, whatever it would take to point out all those broader actions, and then wrap things up that way. Too much more advancement of the story in the first book will almost certainly create tangles with the approach I've laid out for the second book.
I believe my approach is going to be to set a tentative end at the completed Chapter 12. I will do my first full edit, and see if that clears up any remaining reservations I have. If I'm happy with the ending, then I can decide whether an epilogue is appropriate, or if I should just write a teaser about what to look forward in the next book. I know my writing buddies have to be wondering what "broader actions" I'm talking about that they still don't know about after 12 chapters. It reminds me of one of the writing tips Kurt Vonnegut applies to his work, which is to always tell the reader everything. Don't stick "gotchas" into the story, or throw new things in there without preparing the reader for them. I do think I've violated that to some extent that has to be fixed.
Maybe I'll be inspired by the events I am going to and I'll come up with an even better idea.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
When Ideas Fail
When Ideas Fail
I have been stuck on Chapter 12 for nineteen days. It's the longest period of drought between completed chapters other than the 32 days between chapters seven and eight. That 32 day break included a complete re-write of chapter eight, but most of that time covered a period when I did no writing on the novel at all.
This current drought, though, is not from lack of trying. I think I've learned from the experience of chapter eight, and did not stop writing even at my most frustrated. I've probably written enough text for three full sized chapters, but unfortunately little of it is usable. Simply put, I've placed my intrepid troupe of adventurers into a predicament that I have not been able to extricate them from. Every attempt at a solution found it's way to a dead end. The frustrating thing is that I know exactly where I want them, and I have all the pieces I need to make it happen. I just can't make all those pieces fit.
My persistence ultimately paid off, though, and I am very happy at the way the resolution of the conflict in the storyline finally turned out. A lot of words died along the way. I thought I had a 6,000 word chapter in the bag, and enough to get a start on chapter thirteen. After the cleanup, though, I had a hard won 3,000 words and more work to do.
The troupe is on it's way again, however. Now it's back to the grind time, with hopefully fewer snags.
I have been stuck on Chapter 12 for nineteen days. It's the longest period of drought between completed chapters other than the 32 days between chapters seven and eight. That 32 day break included a complete re-write of chapter eight, but most of that time covered a period when I did no writing on the novel at all.
This current drought, though, is not from lack of trying. I think I've learned from the experience of chapter eight, and did not stop writing even at my most frustrated. I've probably written enough text for three full sized chapters, but unfortunately little of it is usable. Simply put, I've placed my intrepid troupe of adventurers into a predicament that I have not been able to extricate them from. Every attempt at a solution found it's way to a dead end. The frustrating thing is that I know exactly where I want them, and I have all the pieces I need to make it happen. I just can't make all those pieces fit.
My persistence ultimately paid off, though, and I am very happy at the way the resolution of the conflict in the storyline finally turned out. A lot of words died along the way. I thought I had a 6,000 word chapter in the bag, and enough to get a start on chapter thirteen. After the cleanup, though, I had a hard won 3,000 words and more work to do.
The troupe is on it's way again, however. Now it's back to the grind time, with hopefully fewer snags.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
The Message Board
The Message Board
I have to admit that I am excited, and a little impatient. It's been four days since about a dozen of us new members of Go, Be, Write! were welcomed into the writer's group. The most recently held meeting of the group was on March 6th, more than a month ago. There has been no word on what future meetings or activities are being scheduled.
I wanted to make some kind of contact, if only to express my excitement in joining the group. The website has a message board. There was only one entry, dated 8 Jan, 2013, that asked about locations for future meetings. There was one reply, in a group with over 140 members.
So I became the second person in the group to post on the message board. I wrote this:
Hi,
My name is Charlie and I'm a writer. I've had this affliction in varying degrees most of my life. Now I believe it has become a permanent condition.
Thank you, Sally, for accepting me into Go, Be, Write! I am looking forward to meeting and working with the great folks here. I'm here to learn and to contribute in any way I can.
I'm sure there are many writers here that are far more experienced than I am, so I don't know how much help I can be.
One project I did learn a lot from, however, was a compilation of my previously published short stories that I released as an e-book. There are a lot of steps required to get a project into e-book format, and some of it is quite technical. If anyone is interested I would be happy to share my experience in getting it published.
I'm excited to be here, as I'm sure all of the new members are!
PS - Hope you don't mind my starting this discussion thread.
Charlie
I feel a little bit naughty and presumptuous, being such a new member. I've never been in a writer's group before. Maybe I'm going about this all wrong. But I'm here because I want to learn more about my craft and how to improve it. I'll happily make my mistakes and learn from them here, so that I won't make them when it really counts.
I don't really know what to expect from my post, but I hope to get a few replies.
I have to admit that I am excited, and a little impatient. It's been four days since about a dozen of us new members of Go, Be, Write! were welcomed into the writer's group. The most recently held meeting of the group was on March 6th, more than a month ago. There has been no word on what future meetings or activities are being scheduled.
I wanted to make some kind of contact, if only to express my excitement in joining the group. The website has a message board. There was only one entry, dated 8 Jan, 2013, that asked about locations for future meetings. There was one reply, in a group with over 140 members.
So I became the second person in the group to post on the message board. I wrote this:
Hi,
My name is Charlie and I'm a writer. I've had this affliction in varying degrees most of my life. Now I believe it has become a permanent condition.
Thank you, Sally, for accepting me into Go, Be, Write! I am looking forward to meeting and working with the great folks here. I'm here to learn and to contribute in any way I can.
I'm sure there are many writers here that are far more experienced than I am, so I don't know how much help I can be.
One project I did learn a lot from, however, was a compilation of my previously published short stories that I released as an e-book. There are a lot of steps required to get a project into e-book format, and some of it is quite technical. If anyone is interested I would be happy to share my experience in getting it published.
I'm excited to be here, as I'm sure all of the new members are!
PS - Hope you don't mind my starting this discussion thread.
Charlie
I feel a little bit naughty and presumptuous, being such a new member. I've never been in a writer's group before. Maybe I'm going about this all wrong. But I'm here because I want to learn more about my craft and how to improve it. I'll happily make my mistakes and learn from them here, so that I won't make them when it really counts.
I don't really know what to expect from my post, but I hope to get a few replies.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Expanding the World
Expanding the World
In the coming Chapter Twelve, Dice's Troupe leaves the river and heads eastward toward their next objective, the port of Ocean's Embrace. While the character Jaundice has her route laid out, my author's map of the area Dice's Troupe will be traveling through is a blank slate. Much of the northern half of the Glades is rolling hills, forest, and tamed land. The lands further south along the western boundary are also diagramed and named as well. It's the eastern portion of the Glades north of Ocean's Reach and extending south to The Drain that I had not yet spent any time describing.
I won't reveal any details of the new terrain here. You'll just have to follow along with the troupe and explore along with them. I do wonder how other authors build their worlds, though. I have an overall mental map of the world I'm building, but I generally leave the details out until I need them. Where do I get such details? Partly from taking bits and pieces from our own world, and partly right out of my imagination.
For example, the shape of Glades, if you looked at it closely, is patterned from the state of California. The terrain of the Glades is much different, but that is where the shape comes from. I had originally envisioned keeping the terrain features as well, but frankly, it was easier for me to develop my own terrain map than try to mimic California's. There is even an early map I made up of pasted together chunks of terrain that had features that I was interested in. I don't use that map directly, but it has influenced some of my decisions.
In my last post I talked about writer's groups. Since that post of 24 March I have been waiting to hear back from one group that I was interested in joining. It took 18 days and two queries, but on 11 April I was accepted into the writer's group called "Go, Be, Write!" The reason for the time it took to receive a reply and acceptance was quickly obvious. More than a dozen applicants were approved all at once, some of which had been waiting longer than I. I'm looking forward to getting to know the group members and taking part in the meetings. Right now there are no meetings scheduled, but I hope we get word of that soon.
In the meantime, Spark grows richer as I fill in more and more of the details. I made a broad estimate that I would need twenty chapters to finish the first book, which was a reduction from the original thirty chapters I had envisioned. I now have a framework laid out for each of the remaining chapters, so I can estimate a little more tightly just how far I have to go. As things stand now, the book will have 18 chapters. At the pace I'm on, I'm still two to three months from the finish line.
In the coming Chapter Twelve, Dice's Troupe leaves the river and heads eastward toward their next objective, the port of Ocean's Embrace. While the character Jaundice has her route laid out, my author's map of the area Dice's Troupe will be traveling through is a blank slate. Much of the northern half of the Glades is rolling hills, forest, and tamed land. The lands further south along the western boundary are also diagramed and named as well. It's the eastern portion of the Glades north of Ocean's Reach and extending south to The Drain that I had not yet spent any time describing.
I won't reveal any details of the new terrain here. You'll just have to follow along with the troupe and explore along with them. I do wonder how other authors build their worlds, though. I have an overall mental map of the world I'm building, but I generally leave the details out until I need them. Where do I get such details? Partly from taking bits and pieces from our own world, and partly right out of my imagination.
For example, the shape of Glades, if you looked at it closely, is patterned from the state of California. The terrain of the Glades is much different, but that is where the shape comes from. I had originally envisioned keeping the terrain features as well, but frankly, it was easier for me to develop my own terrain map than try to mimic California's. There is even an early map I made up of pasted together chunks of terrain that had features that I was interested in. I don't use that map directly, but it has influenced some of my decisions.
In my last post I talked about writer's groups. Since that post of 24 March I have been waiting to hear back from one group that I was interested in joining. It took 18 days and two queries, but on 11 April I was accepted into the writer's group called "Go, Be, Write!" The reason for the time it took to receive a reply and acceptance was quickly obvious. More than a dozen applicants were approved all at once, some of which had been waiting longer than I. I'm looking forward to getting to know the group members and taking part in the meetings. Right now there are no meetings scheduled, but I hope we get word of that soon.
In the meantime, Spark grows richer as I fill in more and more of the details. I made a broad estimate that I would need twenty chapters to finish the first book, which was a reduction from the original thirty chapters I had envisioned. I now have a framework laid out for each of the remaining chapters, so I can estimate a little more tightly just how far I have to go. As things stand now, the book will have 18 chapters. At the pace I'm on, I'm still two to three months from the finish line.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Writer's Groups
Writer's Groups
The novel has reached ten chapters and over 60k words, or about 180 pages. I'm now estimating that I will need another ten chapters to finish. I am strongly tempted to begin editing because this far into the book I'm starting to feel like I'm losing the connection with the earliest chapters. I'm trying to resist that because I think it best to keep moving forward and fix the disconnects later. But I don't really know for sure what the right approach is. I've never written anything this long before.
I think it's time for me to find some help. Of course, I've read innumerable things on the web, and gotten many good tips there. One of the things most often recommended is to join a writer's group. I did some research, and there are many writer's groups that meet in the San Diego area. There are two large organizations: the San Diego Writer's Group, and San Diego Writers, Ink. Frankly, neither got me excited. In an organization of that size, my natural inclination to stay in the background would restrict my participation. SD Writers, Ink, in particular, seems to appeal to writer's who are professionals and already publishing. Again, I would feel pretty lost.
Many of the smaller writer's groups were pretty eclectic (one called themselves the "anti-social" writers group) or had a narrow focus, such as poetry groups, or housewives only, etc, which slimmed down the list. Others looked good on their web site, but had no meeting schedule and did not seem to be active.
Then I came across a writer's group called Go, Be, Write! The group's founder had a long list of Do's and Don'ts (mostly don'ts) on what type of writer or wannabe writer she was looking for to be in the group. The most obvious difference between this group and nearly every other group is that the group does not do readings. "Readings" are when writers get to together and read their work out loud in order to get comments and critiques. This is a common method for making improvements and learning techniques. Go, Be, Write! does not like that method. Instead, the approach taken is more like a classroom, at least that's how I interpret it. The founder is a former teacher, and her group focuses on learning not only how to write better, but how to get published, find an agent, contracts, costs, getting paid, etc. These are all things I know very little about. Especially the getting paid part.
Many groups use an online service called Meetup. Most of the writer's groups I checked on use this service to arrange meetings. Go, Be, Write! (GBW) uses it, too. After I had set up an account with Meetup, I clicked the "Join Us" on the GBW website and was given some questions to fill out. There was the general questions about background, personal and professional, and some yes/no questions to make sure I had read the rules and that I was committed to attending the twice per month meetings. I also had to find a picture of me to post. No pictures of pets, sunsets, etc. A real picture, or no deal. The group's tag line does say "A Tough Love Writing Community."
I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into, but I know I need help if I want to continue to improve. I hope this is a good first step, and I'm excited about it.
The novel has reached ten chapters and over 60k words, or about 180 pages. I'm now estimating that I will need another ten chapters to finish. I am strongly tempted to begin editing because this far into the book I'm starting to feel like I'm losing the connection with the earliest chapters. I'm trying to resist that because I think it best to keep moving forward and fix the disconnects later. But I don't really know for sure what the right approach is. I've never written anything this long before.
I think it's time for me to find some help. Of course, I've read innumerable things on the web, and gotten many good tips there. One of the things most often recommended is to join a writer's group. I did some research, and there are many writer's groups that meet in the San Diego area. There are two large organizations: the San Diego Writer's Group, and San Diego Writers, Ink. Frankly, neither got me excited. In an organization of that size, my natural inclination to stay in the background would restrict my participation. SD Writers, Ink, in particular, seems to appeal to writer's who are professionals and already publishing. Again, I would feel pretty lost.
Many of the smaller writer's groups were pretty eclectic (one called themselves the "anti-social" writers group) or had a narrow focus, such as poetry groups, or housewives only, etc, which slimmed down the list. Others looked good on their web site, but had no meeting schedule and did not seem to be active.
Then I came across a writer's group called Go, Be, Write! The group's founder had a long list of Do's and Don'ts (mostly don'ts) on what type of writer or wannabe writer she was looking for to be in the group. The most obvious difference between this group and nearly every other group is that the group does not do readings. "Readings" are when writers get to together and read their work out loud in order to get comments and critiques. This is a common method for making improvements and learning techniques. Go, Be, Write! does not like that method. Instead, the approach taken is more like a classroom, at least that's how I interpret it. The founder is a former teacher, and her group focuses on learning not only how to write better, but how to get published, find an agent, contracts, costs, getting paid, etc. These are all things I know very little about. Especially the getting paid part.
Many groups use an online service called Meetup. Most of the writer's groups I checked on use this service to arrange meetings. Go, Be, Write! (GBW) uses it, too. After I had set up an account with Meetup, I clicked the "Join Us" on the GBW website and was given some questions to fill out. There was the general questions about background, personal and professional, and some yes/no questions to make sure I had read the rules and that I was committed to attending the twice per month meetings. I also had to find a picture of me to post. No pictures of pets, sunsets, etc. A real picture, or no deal. The group's tag line does say "A Tough Love Writing Community."
I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into, but I know I need help if I want to continue to improve. I hope this is a good first step, and I'm excited about it.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
New Beginnings (2013/03/07)
New Beginnings (2013/03/07)
It's been awhile since I last posted, and a lot has been happening. The news is good.
As previously reported, I have completed thirteen chapters. In Chapter Thirteen I introduced the character of Taint, who is to be a significant figure in the novel. At this stage of writing I ran into plot problems. I attempted to fit a number of not very well fitting pieces together in Chapter 14, but that didn't work very well. I finally had to admit that there were some pretty fundamental flaws.
The biggest issue was that I used content from my World of Warcraft (WoW) blog as a way to get started with writing the novel. The title itself, "The Plum, the Rose, and the Fist" comes from the name I gave to my most advanced character in WoW, Plumrosefist. As a long time player of the game, I had embellished and extended this game world with my own stories, giving my game characters their own personalities and history. I used pieces of that as my starting point and anchor for the novel.
It worked very well, for awhile. However, the world's of Chord and Spark that I wanted to bring to life didn't look much like the world of Warcraft, and the further I got into the novel the greater the disparity between what I started with compared to where I was going. None of that Warcraft stuff fit anymore. I had to make a decision. I could scrub the Warcraft content and try to fill in the holes. Or ...
I decided to start over. My two writing buddies could see the problems, and in fact helped me identify many of them. They, too, agreed that the Warcraft influences had to be purged and rooted out so that the worlds I intended to create could flourish.
In addition to the content, I also had a technical issue to address. On average, the size of the completed chapters was under 2,000 words each. I had written thirteen chapters, but only 25,039 words. The reason for that was pretty simple. I wanted to advance the storyline, and with every new idea I kept moving it forward. What those chapters lacked was detail. I had a skeleton with no meat on it. That also caused broken and dead ended plotlines. My skeleton was misshapen. So, as a forcing function to help me slow down and add content to bring my novel to life, I set a minimum of 5,000 words per chapter. Chapters could be longer, but not shorter.
The revised/new Chapter One was finished on New Year's Eve, 2012. It contained 5,132 words. It was a hard chapter to write. I kept thinking of the 25,000 words I had set aside. Not discarded, though, I told myself. Some if it could be salvaged, but only if it truly belonged in the story.
The first sentence in the original story starts out as "Jaundice was thinking about names as she carefully and thoroughly swept the floors. . ." The new first sentence begins as "Jaundice was thinking about her contented life and the many friends she had . . ." A seemingly small change, but it carried the story off in a new, better direction.
Since that new beginning I have finished eight chapters. I now have three writing buddies helping me out, and that keeps me focused on producing content. I am much more aware of the many pieces of the novel and keep extensive notes about plot lines so I minimize the contradictions and dead ends that seem to inevitably crop up. Chapter Eight was a particularly difficult chapter as I reintroduced a character from the earlier version that I liked a lot, the fiend Kee, but it's intro had created a terrible snarl that for awhile I could not pick apart. I got it straightened out.
The novel is now at 48,148 words. I am averaging 6,000 words per chapter. With the exception of one period of 32 days when I did little writing on the novel, I've been producing chapters on an average of every six days. For me, that's pretty good.
I have also set a modest writing goal for myself. I don't really know at what point the story will end. Nor do I know how it will end, though I do have a few ideas in mind. I have already defined the three major sections, but there isn't enough of the story fleshed out for me to know just how big that will be. It will end when it ends, I guess. As a goal, though, I am planning on thirty chapters. At 5,000 words per chapter, that would make my novel 150,000 words.
I am a third of the way there.
It's been awhile since I last posted, and a lot has been happening. The news is good.
As previously reported, I have completed thirteen chapters. In Chapter Thirteen I introduced the character of Taint, who is to be a significant figure in the novel. At this stage of writing I ran into plot problems. I attempted to fit a number of not very well fitting pieces together in Chapter 14, but that didn't work very well. I finally had to admit that there were some pretty fundamental flaws.
The biggest issue was that I used content from my World of Warcraft (WoW) blog as a way to get started with writing the novel. The title itself, "The Plum, the Rose, and the Fist" comes from the name I gave to my most advanced character in WoW, Plumrosefist. As a long time player of the game, I had embellished and extended this game world with my own stories, giving my game characters their own personalities and history. I used pieces of that as my starting point and anchor for the novel.
It worked very well, for awhile. However, the world's of Chord and Spark that I wanted to bring to life didn't look much like the world of Warcraft, and the further I got into the novel the greater the disparity between what I started with compared to where I was going. None of that Warcraft stuff fit anymore. I had to make a decision. I could scrub the Warcraft content and try to fill in the holes. Or ...
I decided to start over. My two writing buddies could see the problems, and in fact helped me identify many of them. They, too, agreed that the Warcraft influences had to be purged and rooted out so that the worlds I intended to create could flourish.
In addition to the content, I also had a technical issue to address. On average, the size of the completed chapters was under 2,000 words each. I had written thirteen chapters, but only 25,039 words. The reason for that was pretty simple. I wanted to advance the storyline, and with every new idea I kept moving it forward. What those chapters lacked was detail. I had a skeleton with no meat on it. That also caused broken and dead ended plotlines. My skeleton was misshapen. So, as a forcing function to help me slow down and add content to bring my novel to life, I set a minimum of 5,000 words per chapter. Chapters could be longer, but not shorter.
The revised/new Chapter One was finished on New Year's Eve, 2012. It contained 5,132 words. It was a hard chapter to write. I kept thinking of the 25,000 words I had set aside. Not discarded, though, I told myself. Some if it could be salvaged, but only if it truly belonged in the story.
The first sentence in the original story starts out as "Jaundice was thinking about names as she carefully and thoroughly swept the floors. . ." The new first sentence begins as "Jaundice was thinking about her contented life and the many friends she had . . ." A seemingly small change, but it carried the story off in a new, better direction.
Since that new beginning I have finished eight chapters. I now have three writing buddies helping me out, and that keeps me focused on producing content. I am much more aware of the many pieces of the novel and keep extensive notes about plot lines so I minimize the contradictions and dead ends that seem to inevitably crop up. Chapter Eight was a particularly difficult chapter as I reintroduced a character from the earlier version that I liked a lot, the fiend Kee, but it's intro had created a terrible snarl that for awhile I could not pick apart. I got it straightened out.
The novel is now at 48,148 words. I am averaging 6,000 words per chapter. With the exception of one period of 32 days when I did little writing on the novel, I've been producing chapters on an average of every six days. For me, that's pretty good.
I have also set a modest writing goal for myself. I don't really know at what point the story will end. Nor do I know how it will end, though I do have a few ideas in mind. I have already defined the three major sections, but there isn't enough of the story fleshed out for me to know just how big that will be. It will end when it ends, I guess. As a goal, though, I am planning on thirty chapters. At 5,000 words per chapter, that would make my novel 150,000 words.
I am a third of the way there.
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